Powell River, British Columbia, Canada, 03 September 2009 --  Catalyst Paper is about to begin on-board cleaning of one of the concrete-hulled ships that form the breakwater at its Powell River Division.  Work on the Peralta is scheduled to begin on Tuesday and is expected to last five to six weeks.  A barge and crane will be set up alongside the ship to provide marine contractors with access to its top deck and holds.

The Peralta is a World War I ship that has been moored at Powell River since 1961, and is the largest and oldest of the 10 breakwater “hulks.”Debris and lumber will be removed from the ship’s holds, as will hydrocarbons located within difficult-to-access areas.  Although the volume of hydrocarbons on board is small, they are mostly solidified and will require intensive efforts to remove.

The work will be done by a contractor specializing in marine and petrochemical cleaning, and pressurized hot-water will be used to remove the hydrocarbons. The diluted hydrocarbons will be suctioned to the barge, where they will be collected for shipment to an approved waste disposal facility, and the water will be re-used in a closed-loop system. 

This remediation project follows inspections and routine external repair work earlier this spring and summer, which improved the Peralta’s structural integrity. This involved installing reinforcing steel and concrete in areas where the hull had weathered or was previously damaged. 

Catalyst Paper manufactures diverse specialty printing papers, newsprint, and pulp. Its customers include retailers, publishers, and commercial printers in North America, Latin America, the Pacific Rim, and Europe. With six mills strategically located in British Columbia, Canada, and in Arizona, USA, Catalyst has a combined annual production capacity of 2.5 million metric tons. The company is headquartered in Richmond, British Columbia, and its common shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol CTL. Catalyst is listed on the Jantzi Social Index and is ranked by Corporate Knights as one of the 50 Best Corporate Citizens in Canada.