BY VINCENT TODARO
Staff Writer
“I think it’s an excellent change. It’s very important to the community and the surrounding communities.” – Mayor Barry Zagnit SPOTSWOOD – The Schweitzer Mauduit paper mill, once considered a prime terrorism target, has reduced its potential danger by switching away from the storage of large amounts of chlorine.
The New Jersey Public Interest Research Group (NJPIRG) announced that the manufacturer, located on Main Street, will now have its chlorine made as needed. The move further reduces the risks related to transporting the chemical into the plant.
Schweitzer Mauduit, which produces paper for the tobacco industry, was reported in 2003 as being among the most “potentially vulnerable and lethal targets for terrorists” in the New York metropolitan area. An article in the New York Daily News stated that an attack on the Spotswood plant would be No. 6 on the list of “worst-case scenarios.” The article stated that a release of 180,000 pounds of chlorine from the plant could affect 960,000 people.
But Abigail Caplovitz Field, an advocate for NJPIRG, stressed that a human accident or leak was far more likely to occur than a terrorist attack. According to a report issued by her group, over 1,400 chlorine incidents have occurred globally in the past 14 years, resulting in evacuations and fatalities.
“Accidents happen all the time,” she said.
Caplovitz Field said the change at Schweitzer Mauduit stemmed from talks between management and the workers union. Union President Steven Green did not return a call seeking comment for the story, but Caplovitz Field said her understanding is that a committee of union and management representatives had studied workplace safety issues.
The manufacturer will use a process to generate chlorine as needed rather than store it. Transportation of the chemical will also now be very limited.
“They will generate chlorine dioxide at one end and use it at another end,” Caplovitz Field said. “So it will be generated on demand and nowhere near as much will be stored.”
Though she was glad to see the change, she noted there are still other alternatives available that would result in no chlorine dioxide being needed.
Spotswood Borough Council President Curtis Stollen said it is “very good news” that the change was being made, as the possible consequences of a problem involving the chlorine have been an “awful little secret.” He said officials have tried not to talk about the problem too much, so it would not receive enough attention to interest terrorists.
Mayor Barry Zagnit said the plant worked with local, county, state and federal officials on safety issues. He said the borough did not press the plant to make this particular change, though Spotswood officials did try to make the plant as safe as possible.
“I think it’s an excellent change,” he said. “It’s very important to the community and the surrounding communities.”
Stollen said the plant has always been a “good neighbor,” and the borough did not want to harm its business.
“But it’s nice to see they have used new methods to avoid this gas from being on-site,” he said.
The change is good for other towns in the area as well, in part because the chlorine was transported through them on its way to the plant.
Councilwoman Marge Drozd said the switch caught her by surprise. She noted that as a councilwoman since last year, she has not heard the matter discussed publicly, though residents have informally discussed the safety issue.
She said Spotswood officials have worked well with plant management in the past to “coordinate safety and security.”
The chlorine is used for bleaching the paper generated by the mill. Caplovitz Field said the amount stored on-site will now be so little that the plant will not have to file a report with the state Department of Environmental Protection.
NJPIRG became involved with the issue when its national office compiled a report on pulp and paper mills throughout the country.
“Chlorine gas is essentially a chemical weapon, but has many substitutes,” Caplovitz Field said.
Her group looked at the federal filings and found an estimate that, in a worst-case scenario, over 1 million people could be affected by the chlorine gas, which can be deadly, she said.
“The Spotswood plant was listed as the second most dangerous in the country,” she said.
When the group looked further into the issue, it realized the DEP recently said the plant switched processes.
Zagnit said the company is to be commended in part because the switch involves a large expenditure of money. Caplovitz Field agreed the startup costs are great, but noted that over the long term, the process is cheaper.
“It’s often good business to do the right thing,” she said. “Imagine a bad accident. How good is that for business?”
The process is not new, she said, but there are many pulp and paper mills “that aren’t even taking the idea of a safer facility seriously.”