Regulators Release a Plan to Help Repair the Contaminated Roanoke River

PLYMOUTH, N.C.—Fall had just arrived when a nor’easter began stewing in the Atlantic Ocean, its gale-force winds carrying the pungent smell of chlorine westward, away from downtown. Against the backdrop of dingy stratus clouds, the Domtar pulp mill loomed.

The plant occupies 2,400 acres at the confluence of Welch Creek and the Roanoke River, where logs are turned into absorbent materials used in diapers and other paper hygiene products. But those goods come at an environmental cost. 

For 50 years, Domtar’s predecessor, Weyerhaeuser, discharged toxic dioxins, furans and mercury—byproducts of the bleaching process—into the Roanoke River. Scientists have found dioxins in river sediment, wood duck eggs and fish.

Federal and state regulators have now reached a tentative agreement with Domtar to restore and protect natural areas in the Roanoke River watershed. A federal court has issued a proposed consent decree and restoration plan to correct the damage that Weyerhaeuser caused.

Although Domtar isn’t responsible for the original damage, the company assumed liability for the cleanup after buying the property from Weyerhaeuser in 2007. 

Fish can absorb dioxin through their gills. The contaminant accumulates in the fatty tissues of larger, predatory fish that rank higher on the aquatic food chain. Large fish eat smaller, bottom-feeding species that have consumed even tinier, contaminated organisms.

Since 1990, dioxin levels in and near the river have declined, but state health officials still recommend limiting consumption of car and catfish caught there to no more than one meal per month. 

Even at very low levels, dioxin can cause reproductive and developmental problems, damage the immune system and cause cancer, according to the World Health Organization. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has set limits for dioxin in drinking water and requires facilities to report their releases as part of their pollution permits.

In addition to the toxic dioxin discharges, state records show Weyerhaeuser withdrew water from the river as part of the manufacturing process. Those withdrawals killed larval fish by inhaling them into cooling tanks, reducing the total number of striped bass, river herring and white perch by 100,000 each day, state and federal records show.

The Nature Conservancy in North Carolina owns and protects about 2,000 acres near Domtar. The group is reviewing the draft restoration plan and plans to submit comments, said Julie DeMeester, Freshwater and Coastal Plains director.

The Roanoke River boasts the largest intact systems of bottomland forests on the Atlantic Coast, as well as diverse populations of diadromous fish—species that travel between fresh water and salt water. 

The river’s last 137 miles, which include the segment that passes Domtar, are exceptional habitat, DeMeester said, which prompted the Nature Conservancy to begin protecting the lands in 1982.

“There are many imperiled fish that use this river,” DeMeester said. “It’s truly one of the wildest remaining rivers,” with floodplains as much as five miles wide in the lower basin.

“Residents of Plymouth and downstream communities deserve a healthy and clean Roanoke River,” said North Carolina Secretary of the Environment Reid Wilson. “This settlement ensures protection of fish and wildlife habitat, abundant recreational opportunities and strengthened resilience to flooding.” 

Domtar did not respond to a request for comment, but issued this statement to WCTI, a television station in New Bern: “We are aware of the consent decree that has been filed and reserve further comment until the public comment period is concluded and the decree is ordered.”

The Roanoke is often overshadowed by its more well-known river peers, the Neuse and the Cape Fear, but it is equally important. The Roanoke begins in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia and squiggles for 410 miles before it empties near Plymouth into the Albemarle Sound, among the largest estuaries in North Carolina.

More than 200 bird species live or breed in the Roanoke River floodplain, among them yellow-throated vireos, American redstarts and cerulean warblers. The river supports one of the most diverse fish communities in North Carolina, including striped bass, alewife and Atlantic sturgeon, which is on the endangered species list.

“It’s a lifeblood for North Carolina,” said Larry Baldwin of the North Carolina Environmental Advocacy Corps, a new nonprofit group.

The Importance of the Roanoke

Pulp and paper mills, as well as the chemical and metals industries, routinely discharged dioxin into waterways until the late 1980s, when the EPA National Dioxin study found the contaminant in fish and sediment. Those findings prompted the federal and some state governments to more closely regulate dioxin releases. 

Dioxin releases have fluctuated over the last decade. Most emanated from the chemical industry, while pulp and paper mills accounted for less than 1 percent. 

In 2024, Domtar released 3 grams of dioxin into waterways, a third of the state’s total, EPA data show. Dioxins are measured in grams because they are usually produced in very small quantities; they are also toxic at much lower concentrations than many other chemicals.

The Weyerhaeuser site in Plymouth was so contaminated that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency considered it eligible for the Superfund program, based on its hazard score. However, since Domtar has been willing to pay for the cleanup, the site is being remediated under the Superfund Alternative Approach, which does not require federal funds.

Weyerhaeuser excavated contaminated material from the landfill and former chlorine plant before Domtar purchased the property in 2006, EPA records show. Since 2011, Domtar has spent at least $5.5 million on remediation. That includes installing a thin cap of sand to contain contaminated sediment in Welch Creek.

Baldwin, of the N.C. Environmental Advocacy Corps, said his group’s mission is to monitor overlooked river basins, including the Roanoke, Chowan and others in the northeastern part of the state, as well as environmental justice communities. Census data show two-thirds to 90 percent of residents living in neighborhoods near the Domtar plant are people of color.

The area has more than 50 hog CAFOs, including two that produce swine gas, and an unknown number of poultry operations. Enviva’s wood pellet plants in the region have been linked to deforestation. Much of the Albemarle Sound, which receives water from the Roanoke, Chowan and Alligator rivers, is on the federal list of impaired waters.

“The Roanoke is the major player when it comes to impacts to the Albemarle,” Baldwin said.

“We can’t neglect the importance of that river.”