Report of the Environmental Impact Assessment Review Board of the bleached kraft pulp mill proposed by Alberta-Pacific Forest Industries Inc. for the County of Athabasca, Alberta between the Athabasca, La Biche and Wandering Rivers and Pine Creek. Reviews the environmental impact of the proposed mill including the effects of timber harvesting on Indian Reserve Lands. Recommends that the mill not be built, primarily because of effluent discharge into the Athabasca-Peace River System.

Although the proposed mill would be one of the least polluting bleached kraft pulp mills in the world, and even though it would have economic benefits associated with it, the Review Board recommends that it not be approved at this time. The major reason for this recommendation is the effluent which would be discharged to the Athabasca River, and in particular, its content of chlorinated organic compounds and the cumulative effects this effluent and that from other mills would have on the Athabasca-Peace River system. The Alberta-Pacific would use technology which would reduce the chlorinated organic compounds to a low concentration. However, the limited available data indicate that there are already measurable amounts of dioxins and furans in fish in the river system near existing mills and extending to more than 1000 km downstream.