An emergency effort has begun to remove millions of gallons of toxic liquids from an abandoned pulp mill that poses a pollution threat to Humboldt Bay.
The Eureka Times-Standard reports that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency plans to remove more than 4 million gallons of pulping liquors from the old mill site.
An EPA official says the leaky, corroded tanks at the old mill present an imminent threat to people and the environment around Humboldt Bay.
The agency, which has secured the site, plans to empty the tanks and move the liquid by barge to a pulp mill in Longview, Washington, which will reuse them.
Officials were concerned that an earthquake could cause a large spill, which would devastate the Humboldt Bay seafood industry.