Site history: Chronic release of hazardous substances began in approximately 1937.

Location: The Weyerhaeuser Paper Mill is located in Plymouth, North Carolina. The current Natural Resource Damage (NRD) assessment area includes the lower Roanoke River from Williamston downstream to Albemarle Sound, Welch Creek (a tributary to the Roanoke River), and western Albemarle Sound from the mouth of the Roanoke River to Bull Bay and Harvey Point.

• North Carolina Department of Environmental and Natural Resources
• U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS)
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

Case status: Injury Assessment Phase.

Overview: From 1937 to 1957 the Kieckhefer-Eddy Company produced pulp and containerboard products at the current Weyerhaeuser Site. During this time untreated wastewater was discharged directly into the Roanoke River. In 1957 Kiechhefer-Eddy merged with Weyerhaeuser, which continues to own and operate the facility today. From 1952 to 1965 the Site operated a mercury cell chlorine production plant. Process fluid drained through the floor and into the Roanoke River. Wastewater was discharged into Welch Creek 1.6 miles from its confluence with the Roanoke River from 1957 to 1968. From 1968 to 1987 a series of wastewater treatment ponds were constructed onsite, and treated wastewater was then discharged into Welch Creek 2.3 miles from its confluence with the Roanoke River. In 1988 the wastewater discharge location was moved to the Roanoke River, 0.5 miles upstream from the Weyerhaeuser facility. Until the mid-1990s, pulp and paper bleaching at the mill used molecular chlorine, and polychlorinated dibenzodioxins (dioxins) and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (furans) were generated as byproducts of the bleaching process. Beginning in 1979 lumber was treated with a chromated copper arsenate process which produced 6,000 pounds of sludge per year. This waste was shipped to an offsite disposal facility. As a result of these and other activities at the site, contaminants released to the environment include chromium, copper, nickel, zinc, mercury, phenanthrene, pyrene, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dioxins, and furans. It is likely that injuries to state and Federal trust resources have occurred and continue to occur as a result of this contamination, from dioxins and furans in particular. Some of these contaminants remain in Welch Creek, the lower Roanoke River, and Albemarle Sound.

The site has been designated a Superfund Alternative Site, and the Weyerhaeuser company has been working cooperatively with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) since 1998 to perform National Priorities List-caliber remedial activities. The Trustees and Weyerhaeuser are working toward an agreement to undertake a cooperative Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA).