Stream Improvement Through
Spray Disposal of Sulphite Liquor
at the Kimberly-Clark Corporation
Niagara, Wisconsin Mill
R. M. Billings, Assistant to Director of Mill Operations
Kimberly-Clark Corporation, Neenah, Wisconsin
For over 100 miles the Menominee River forms a boundary line
between Northeastern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
At Niagara, Wisconsin, six miles Southeast of Iron Mountain, Michigan, Kimberly-Clark has been producing groundwood pulp since 1898
and sulphite pulp since 1901. This stretch of the Menominee flows
through rugged country, well wooded and wild even today. Jagged
bluffs and rock outcroppings lend further beauty to the region. Because
of the ruggedness of the country and the nature of the soil, much of
the area is unsuitable for farming. The mill was located at the present
site because of the presence of Quinnesec Falls which furnished the
much needed power for a pulp mill.
For several decades after the mill was established, no pollution
problem made itself evident. The river ran for miles through relatively
unsettled country. Numerous falls and rapids together with long
stretches of fast moving water made the Menominee a truly working
stream capable of absorbing sufficient oxygen to assimilate all waste material both natural and industrial which found its way into it.
As the years went by, however, the population of the area increased. Cities expanded and new industries sprang up, all of which
depended upon the river for the ultimate disposal of their waste. This
increased population and industrial activity was accompanied by an
increasing demand for power. As a result, power dams were built at
intervals along the Menominee and motionless pools behind dams appeared where formerly there had been long stretches of moving water.
Thus not only was the oxygen-demanding load of the Menominee very
markedly increased but its capacity to assimilate that load was markedly
reduced. Added to this was the growing awareness that unless the use
of the natural resource water was carefully controlled, it might not be
utilized to provide "the greatest good for the greatest number of people."
The Menominee River was a case in point.   It was agreed that it was
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