International Paper's Pensacola mill operations resume after boiler explosion

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The Memphis, Tennessee-headquartered International Paper has announced successful resumption of full operations at its Pensacola, Mill in Cantonment, Florida. It must be noted that the mill’s operations were impacted by a boiler explosion during end-January this year, which had resulted in significant damages to the mill.

Tim Nicholls, senior vice president, International Paper, in a statement, noted that the company is pleased to announce resumption of operations at the mill facility in full swing. The company’s primary focus would be to ensure health and safety of its employees, contractors and community members, along with providing excellent service to its customers, Nicholls said. The company had engaged third party assistance to implement enhanced procedures across the company locations to prevent further occurrence of similar incidents. As per estimates, the company is believed to have incurred $80-$120 as total costs related to the incident, majority of which is expected to be covered by insurance.

According to Tom Ryan, director of corporate communications at International Paper, the company has been working with consultants on implementing new safety procedures. The company issued Manufacturing Technology Alert notice to all its mills, describing the revised operating procedures to be implemented, so as to prevent occurrence of digester explosion and related incidents. Further, the lessons learned during this period were shared with competitors both inside and outside the US, in an attempt to raise the industry-wide safety levels.

The explosion had occurred during evening time on 22 January, 2017, which released a mixture of wood fibers and pulp liquor to the surrounding community. The company had offered full support and resources to local community and residents in their clean-up activity, by engaging contractors to clean up the discharged material. The explosion had caused considerable damages to pulp digester machine and the powerhouse at the mill facility. Although the incident reported no injuries or fatalities, it had brought fluff pulp and containerboard production at the mill facility to a halt. The mill had resumed fluff pulp operations shortly after the explosion, but the containerboard production has taken months to return to full operations. Further, the company informed that the cleanup of the black liquor and other debris from the explosion is complete.

The company, in its preliminary findings, had stated that extended shutdown at the mill had allowed gas buildup, which in turn led to explosion at the facility. The press release noted that the gas mixture, combined with one of several possible ignition sources, had provided the necessary components for the incident. It had initially blamed a manufacturing process failure for the blast incident.

About International Paper Co.

International Paper is a global leader in the paper and packaging industry with manufacturing operations in North America, Europe, Latin America, Asia and North Africa. Headquartered in Memphis, Tenn., the company employs approximately 65,000 people and is strategically located in more than 24 countries serving customers worldwide. The company had posted net sales of $21 billion in 2016.