John F. Minor
The announcement of the closure of another pulp mill on the West Coast wasn’t exactly earth shaking news. Unless, of course, you happened to be one of the 430 people that were losing their jobs. As President of Local 183, at the Kimberly Clark mill in Everett, I had been watching the tribulations of Local 194 in Bellingham with interest and hope. Finally, in March, the word came, Georgia Pacific was permanently closing the pulp mill and associated chemical plant.
It didn’t have to be.
In Vietnam, the enemies you didn’t see were often more deadly than those you did. So it was for Local 194.
Local 194, like all pulp and paper mills on the West Coast, had enemies to be sure. They battled the Green Army of environmentalists for many years. Moreover, to speak truth of the issues of the environmentalists, many had merit. The pulp and paper mills that have survived these past several decades have spent hundreds of millions of dollars in cleaning up air and water. They have struggled hard to become good and responsible neighbors in their communities. Local 194’s demise did not come at the hand of the Green Army.
In fact, GP Bellingham, as have we in Everett, had recently began operating successfully under a process that was free of elemental chlorine and had eliminated the discharge of measurable dioxins into the environment. A last major challenge met and perhaps the beginning of an uneasy truce. No, it was not the Green Army that did in Local 194.
Nor was it the onslaught of outrageous energy prices brought on by the deregulation of power in California. Although they were initially stunned, and were shut down for a while, they brought their entire site back up on diesel generators. Georgia Pacific’s Corporate Headquarters committed to build a clean burning gas turbine generator to generate electricity, making the site energy self-sufficient and perhaps able to produce a surplus. All they needed was a little time.
The clouds that had obscured their future were parting and a glimmer of light was beginning to break through, but, as Shakespeare noted: "It is the bright day that brings forth the adder, and that craves wary walking."
The diesel generators they needed, short term — until their own gas turbine generator could be brought on line — were emitting more hydrocarbons than their permit allowed. A small amount, when compared to the pollution the thousands of cars that travel the I-5 corridor adjacent to Bellingham emit daily. They needed to be allowed to operate slightly out of compliance until the end of the year — they needed a variance.
But there was another Green Army. This one took its name from the color of the dollars they hoped to make from the development of the greater Bellingham waterfront. Local 194 worked the GP Mill that was situated on that waterfront. The Green Army of California land developers moved quietly off the trail and waited. Someone waited with them. The blow that brought Local 194 to its knees was delivered by one close to them.
The mayor of Bellingham sued to silence the generators powering the mill. It was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Like Caesar, Local 194 was brought down by the hand of a trusted friend.
The mayor, I’m sure, had his reasons. Perhaps "the kindness of strangers" loomed larger in his future than a constituency under siege. Appropriate remuneration to his next campaign fund might be coins of silver, thirty to a bag. Local 194 passed on. They shall not come this way again.
For those who feel this is a grave injustice — do not just read this and set it aside. Gov. Gary Locke can hear us all the way from Olympia, be our voices united and resolute.
John F. Minor is the President of Local 183 of the Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers.
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