31 



timber was intended to ensure an opportunity for profit. Since 

 KPC's long-term sale contract has an upward rate redetermination 

 clause that's not in any other contracts, any profit potential above 

 the level allowed by the Forest Service becomes stumpage for the 

 government. 



These changes we have asked for are going to benefit the govern- 

 ment as well as allow KPC to continue. Thank you. 



The Chairman. Thank you, Owen. Ernesta. By the way, you used 

 to sit at that table and testify many, many years ago. 



Ms. Ballard. That was under a different name. 



The Chairman. Under a different name but welcome. 



STATEMENT OF ERNESTA BALLARD, ENVIRONMENTAL 

 CONSULTANT, BARNES AND ASSOCLVTES 



Ms. Ballard. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. My name is Ernesta 

 Ballard. I am an environmental consultant and the former admin- 

 istrator of Region 10 of the Environmental Protection Agency. 



Mr. Chairman, passage of this bill will allow KPC to continue to 

 make improvements that are already underway to protect the envi- 

 ronment. The public/private partnership which will be achieved by 

 contract extension will enable KPC to continue building an im- 

 proved outflow infuser, a chlorine-free bleaching process, a rebuilt 

 power plant, which reduces the use of fuel and burns waste more 

 efficiently, computer controls to conserve resources and chemicals, 

 and increased waste water treatment. 



I would like to use the rest of my time this morning to address 

 some of the allegations that have been made by opponents of this 

 bill. 



The Superfund allegation: This is not true. KPC is not under 

 Superfund review and does not appear on any Superfund list. Sug- 

 gestions that KPC has applied political pressure in this regard are 

 preposterous. 



The RCRA allegation, this is not true. Since the law's passage in 

 1980, KPC has had no RCRA enforcement actions. 



The TSCA allegation, this is not true. KPC has properly man- 

 aged and disposed of all PCB materials and as of this year will 

 have no remaining PCBs on-site. 



The water quality allegations, these are not true. They are the 

 contention of adversaries and are vigorously disputed by KPC. 

 They have not been substantiated by regulators or the courts. 



The fish kill allegations; these are not true. The only fish kill for 

 which KPC was responsible occurred 15 years ago, and it resulted 

 from an accidental release of cleaning chemicals downstream of the 

 water reservoir at Krile Lake and not at the pulp processing facil- 

 ity. 



The allegation that KPC is on the top of the Alaska Hazard 

 Ranking Model, this is not true. The State recently concluded that 

 KPC should probably be excluded from the ranked list because per- 

 mits and review programs already in place adequately manage pol- 

 lution control. 



The allegation that KPC has failed to properly study the health 

 effect of air emissions on local residents, this is not true. KPC com- 

 pleted a comprehensive study of dozens of chemicals including 



