If you are a southeastern white water paddler, you probably know about the infamous pollution problems on the Pigeon River. The Champion International pulp and paper mill in Canton, North Carolina, has been turning the waters of the Pigeon black for the past 90 years. In December a landmark agreement was signed that will likely mean a long overdue end to the degradation of this wonderful Appalachian river.

The agreement signaled an end to a contentious battle over the pollution discharge permit and variance issued to Champion in December of 1996. The North Carolina approved permit that did nothing to reduce pollution and was virtually impossible for the company to violate. The American Canoe Association (ACA) and a number of local partners, which include the Tennessee Environmental Council (TEC), the Dead Pigeon River Council, and the Clean Water Fund of North Carolina, responded by launching an all out campaign to overturn the Champion permit and the variance.

The well thought out campaign quickly gained results. Public pressure generated by the effort caused the State of Tennessee to formally object to the new permit and prompted Vice President Gore to ask EPA to review the permit decision. The state of Tennessee filed court papers in North Carolina officially challenging the validity of the permit, and was joined by ACA, TEC, Cocke County, Tennessee, and the town of Newport, Tennessee. For the past year these parties, along with North Carolina and Champion, have been negotiating with EPA over the issue.

Under the constant threat of EPA vetoing the permit and taking permitting authority away from North Carolina, an agreement was reached that imposes tough new standards on the Champion mill. This agreement establishes permit limits which go far beyond those proposed by North Carolina in 1996. The new permit will establish limits that commit Champion to reducing its color pollution by 50% over the next 3 years. The terms of the permit require Champion's color discharges to be below the 48,000 to 52,000 lb./day range by May of 2001. The previous North Carolina proposed limit was 98,400 lb./day. The agreement also moves the compliance point for instream standards almost 20 miles upstream to Hepco, NC, by modifying Champion's color variance. The North Carolina permit had proposed the instream compliance point remain in Tennessee, some 38 miles downstream.

The ACA is very pleased with this long overdue progress. David Jenkins, the Association's Director of Conservation and Public Policy and a principle negotiator of the new limits, praised the agreement, saying "This agreement is a real turning point and a tremendous stride forward. It forces Champion to greatly reduce its discharges to the river, brings instream compliance into North Carolina, and sets the stage for full elimination of the variance in the near future."

Jenkins commended the efforts of Tennessee Governor Sundquist, EPA, the White House and the efforts of area canoe clubs. He said, "The overall club effort has been tremendous. The Tennessee Scenic Rivers Association, Carolina Canoe Club, Chota Canoe Club, Tennessee Valley Canoe Club, UNCA Paddling Club, and others all deserve a lot of credit for this victory, as do the hundreds of individual paddlers who took the time to write letters to EPA and the White House."

As great as this victory is, the job is not finished. The ACA, in recent meetings with concerned citizens, pledged to continue its efforts to protect and restore the Pigeon throughout this permit term and beyond. These efforts will include a vigorous campaign to monitor progress and compliance under the new permit, and the securing of additional pollution reductions in the future.

As for the polluter, river advocates may not be doing battle with Champion for much longer. The $8 billion company has announced that it plans to sell the Canton mill. Whoever buys the mill will have to accept that the Pigeon River's years of being a corporate sewer are over. The new permit signals that fact, and makes great progress toward the full restoration of the Pigeon.

by David Jenkins of the American Canoe Association
From The Eddy Line, February 1998

Hey all you Georgia paddlers, hope you had a safe and fun holiday and July. Keep praying for rain. Just got back from Paddle Georgia on the Flint River. Like all of Georgia’s rivers, the Flint is extremely low and suffers from lack of rain. GCA had a large presence with GCA safety boats guarding the 300+ paddlers on the Day 2 journey through Yellow Jacket Shoals and during the week with deadfall and technical places.

Vincent Payne did an awesome job giving the safety talk before the paddle started with the “Paddle Safety Bingo” game. Even those of us who have heard the safety talk too many times to count listened and learned something. If you ever have to do a safety spiel for a large group, this is an effective, fun way to get the job done.

The Flint is extremely clean, but we had decided months before to do a clean up on Monday’s paddle. I learned a lesson about assumptions, and did not say what NOT to pick up since I had seen very little trash of any sort the first 2 days. We had a huge shock when piles of tires and trash were brought in that evening. One canoe with 3 teenagers had 13 tires in it! (Don’t ask, you need to see the pictures). We ended up with 35 tires and over 800 pounds of trash. The DNR Ranger told me it was the biggest clean up ever on that section of the Flint!

Most of the tires were placed long ago by fishermen to give fish a place to nest. We have seen the same thing in Lake Lanier. Tires were generally considered “non-hazardous” and OK to use for this purpose. The research has proved different and we have begun removing them. If you remove tires from a river, please keep the following in mind. If the tire is submerged, will remain so and is adding stability to the riverbank and is not a hazard, I generally suggest leaving it. If it is sticking out and has exposed areas and might be a breeding place for mosquitoes, it is an excellent candidate for removal.

Be extremely careful when handling and removing tires. They harbor critters that can bite, sting and generally cause you to have an unpleasant journey. Ask Jim Albert: I have not seen him since he helped us on an Upper Chattahoochee River event and had multiple critters from a tire gang up and attack him in his canoe. Tires also have mud, sand and rocks and are extremely heavy. Balancing a tire on a kayak is almost impossible: canoes have more success but they still take excellent balance and control. Unless you have a place to off load your tire quickly you will be traveling down the river with the beast.

The other issue is disposal. Tires can not be put in a regular dumpster, they have to be recycled. If you don’t have a trash collection exemption or figure it out ahead of time, they can cost $3.00+ each and you have to get them to the recycle center. If you are planning a clean up, tires must be addressed and disposal determined before you start the event. If you have some tires that are bugging you, by all means get them, but if you are just generally doing a clean up, I suggest “NO TIRES.”

Rivers Alive’s (www.riversalive.org) 10th year of supporting waterway clean ups is this year. We are producing special T-shirts and will have 2 shirt choices in the offering along with boat stickers. Registration is open so get your river event on the calendar.

Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper (www.chattahoochee.org) is holding the first headwaters “Save the Hooch” event at Indigo Joe’s Restaurant in Cumming on July 26. This is a Sweetwater Beer event, so beer will be featured and on sale along with music and food. Come help us “give our liver to save the river.” Times and other information on the UCR website, See you on the river, keep it clean!

by Bonny Putney, GCA “Trash Queen”
From The Eddy Line, August 2008