PORT TOWNSEND — Port Townsend Paper personnel are awaiting approval of their state Department of Ecology air operating permit.
About 50 people have presented verbal and written concerns about emissions from the mill, Jefferson County’s largest private employer, which employs about 320 people.
Ecology hosted an information forum on May 31, timed to also coincide with the permit renewal hearing, that drew 150 people.
“They take the public comments very seriously,” Bruce McComas, Port Townsend Paper Corporation’s mill manager, said of Ecology officials on Friday.
“We’re just waiting too.”
Ecology Spokeswoman Sandy Howard said Friday that Ecology officials were responding to area residents’ comments after listening or reading them.
“We received some very good philosophical questions that we needed more time to address,” she said, explaining the month it has taken for the agency’s question-and-answer process.
Ecology extended the public comment period on the mill’s air-quality permit because of the high public interest, she said.
“When (the permit) is finally issued, we will be giving a response to all comments in the permit,” Howard said.
“When we get a lot of comments, it takes a while to respond to them. It’s a process and it just plays out is all.”
