GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – After using coal for over 100 years, Georgia-Pacific shut down their last coal-fired boiler at the Green Bay Broadway mill on Monday. This follows the installation earlier this year of a second natural gas boiler at the facility, which became fully operational in September.
“Now we have a second natural gas boiler, which allows us to stop our use of coal completely,” said Public Affairs Manager Mike Kawleski. “That’s quite a change for us since the facility has been around for more than 100 years.”
Georgia-Pacific invested nearly $27 million to purchase and install the boiler, which produces steam for process use and power generation at the mill. The mill’s first natural gas boiler was installed in 2015, which replaced the facility’s largest coal-fired boiler, helping the mill reduce air emissions, meet future regulations, and modernize its assets.
Kawleski says the investment in modernizing assets at the facility is a good sign for the Green Bay area.
“It’s an indication that the company thinks that the Green Bay area operation is worth investing in, and that means good things for all our employees and future employees in the Green Bay area,” Kawleski told WTAQ News.
Before the natural gas boilers were installed at the facility, it historically used approximately 234,000 tons of coal and 110,000 tons of petroleum coke each year. Any coal remaining will be sold.
“With the addition of a second boiler and elimination of our coal use, really our sulfur dioxide emissions will be reduced to near zero, and nitrous oxide will be reduced by 90-percent. So really a wholesale elimination of air emissions,” Kawleski said. “Really it’s all about us being even better neighbor and more sustainable in the area… It’s been recycling waste paper into usable products since the 1930’s, so that type of work has certainly been going on for quite a while. And we’ve invested millions of dollars in the last few years for things such as our water treatment plant, reducing our energy usage, and lots of other to sustainability programs that we’ve had a lot going on.”
Over the next two years, Georgia-Pacific is also scheduled to spend more than $14 million to take down and remove coal-handling systems, coal boilers and other obsolete equipment and buildings. That includes the second stack, which is prominent in the skyline over the Fox River.
“Removal of the second 400 foot tall stack at the facility will take place sometime in 2021. We’re not sure on the exact schedule, just because that is very specialized work, [and is] very weather dependent,” Kawleski said.
According to a press release, in the past four years, the mill has also been recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“ENERGY STAR® Challenge for Industry”); Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce (“Business Friend of the Environment”); the Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance (“Watershed Hero”); and the Greater Green Bay Chamber of Commerce (“Environmental Sustainability Award”).
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