Whether or not deconstruction work at Camas’ paper mill is environmentally “nonsignificant,” the action will be consequential and symbolic for the growing city along the Columbia River.
Although the plant remains operational, over the next three years Georgia-Pacific officials plan to remove a warehouse, five docks/piers, conveyor housings, an above-ground oil tank, a crane foundation and approximately 3,000 pilings associated with those structures, according to the Camas-Washougal Post-Record. City of Camas officials recently gave the project a “determination of nonsignificance” under state Environmental Policy Act rules.
In an application for the deconstruction, Georgia-Pacific officials wrote: “No waste is anticipated to enter groundwater because of this proposed project. … Inadvertent introduction of debris to surface waters could occur during activities. All demolition would be planned to reduce the risk of introduction of debris to surface waters.”
We hope it is, indeed, environmentally insignificant while representing continued progress toward Camas’ future.
A paper mill has occupied the site for more than 135 years, spending much of that time defining the city. Camas High School’s nickname, after all, is Papermakers.
But as employment numbers and output at the plant have steadily declined, Camas has effectively reinvented itself. Annexations have expanded the city boundaries, high-tech industries have set up shop, and expansive housing developments — many of them for high-end single-family homes — have taken root.
To continue that trajectory, city officials must prepare for the eventual closure of the paper mill and the repurposing of the waterfront. As former Mayor Nan Henriksen told the city council in 2021: “If we have a vision for aesthetically pleasing and vibrant mixed-use with waterfront access, we must ensure now that a required cleanup of the mill site is adequate and safe for mixed-use and not just good enough for more heavy industrial usage.”
Any site that has hosted a paper mill for more than a century is likely to have contaminants in the soil and nearby waters. The Post-Record has reported in the past that state officials believe the site has total petroleum hydrocarbons from diesel, gasoline and oil. It also likely has other contaminants, including volatile organic compounds such as benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene; heavy metals; and persistent organic pollutants.
For vast industrial sites, cleanup costs often partly fall to the local government, and delays in redevelopment can hamper the local economy.
The Waterfront Vancouver site, for example, long was home to a Boise Cascade plant. It took 12 years for that site to be cleaned up and prepared for development — a painstaking but valuable process. Barry Cain, who has spearheaded the waterfront development, once told The Columbian: “Hell, it’s the Columbia River. It’s beautiful. It’s by far the best property in this area. I think it’s hard for a town to feel complete when the best property they have is not usable.”
The same can be said for the Camas waterfront. The paper mill, which once had more than 2,500 employees, now has about 150. Although those jobs and the people who fill them continue to benefit the community, it is not too early to envision a waterfront without the paper mill.
Effectively making that transition will require foresight and engagement from city officials — particularly when it comes to the environmental demands of cleaning up a century’s worth of papermaking.
