A whole report must be written at great expense of time and money. Then it must be submitted to 30 days public comment after which the Board must meet and vote on it.
Why does this matter? We are not sure why Freshwater Tissue Co. is paying money to maintain this permit. They cannot make pulp. The permit only allows them to put storm water and pulp waste out the outfall. Even though they are not making pulp, presumably there are discharges into the Ocean. These are not being monitored.
What we have learned from the Samoa Pulp Mill is that permits once they are granted are hard to get rid of. In addition, enforcement is weak. It is a long way to Humboldt County from Santa Rosa, and expensive to send people here. As funds become more and more scarce, monitoring and enforcement will get weaker and weaker not just with Freshwater, but with other industries that make toxic byproducts.