Beaverdam Creek is easy to miss. Tree-lined banks shield the small, shallow stream from view as it runs toward the Pigeon River in Canton, and until their leaves fall in winter, the trees also hide the dam blocking the creek’s flow just above the confluence. 

The now-shuttered paper mill in Canton has received a new violation for exceeding permit limits on toxicity for water released from the plant, continuing a pattern established over the last two years of averaging more than one notice of violation every two months. 

When the impending closure of Canton’s paper mill was announced in March, conservation professionals predicted a swift improvement  in downstream water quality once papermaking stopped.

In response to a July 10 notice of violation accusing Pactiv Evergreen of illegally dumping unused chemicals  into the wastewater treatment plant at its now-shuttered Canton paper mill, the company has submitted a letter  stating that it acted “on a good faith belief” and that the discharge was legal. 

The paper mill has been closed for years now, but the cleanup is ongoing.

Pick up the Pigeon River during a cleanup 9-10 a.m. Saturday, May 13, in Canton.

Volunteers are wanted to help the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission stock trout into the West Fork Pigeon River in Haywood County beginning at 10:45 a.m. Monday, May 8. 

For decades, concern about water quality has been the central tension between Canton’s paper mill and the environmental advocates monitoring it. When the plant closes this year, those issues are likely to fade with the final whistle — but even the mill’s longtime critics aren’t rejoicing.

The truth, even when it’s staring you down Clint Eastwood style, is easier to ignore than to act on. Just human nature, I guess, but something has to give.

Eleven months to the day after Haywood County awoke to unprecedented flood damage along the Pigeon River resulting from torrential rains the day before, Emergency Services Officer Zack Koonce and Director Travis Donaldson told commissioners they’d secured grant funding to bolster reporting and warning systems.