The noise will gradually increase as they continue to add pressure to the system. It will last longer and will be louder than normal, due to the amount of work that was done to rebuild the recovery boiler. They anticipate approximately the same level of noise as the initial start-up in 2012 and are targeting the steam blow process to subside sometime early tomorrow.

International Paper (IP) reached out to Camptown residents, downtown businesses and the airport to alert them.

IP met with the Security Team and provided key messages for any callers.

IP also provided the City of Franklin and Isle of Wight County Emergency Response/Dispatch with the following talking points, in case they get calls/concerns –

• Over the past 2 months, IP has been conducting its scheduled maintenance outage.
• This is necessary to allow their employees to safely perform upgrades and replace equipment.
• They are in the process of restarting operations, and you may be hearing the increased noise levels.
• The noise occurs as the boiler must vent steam in order to safely bring their equipment back to service.
• This process should subside on Saturday.
• If you have additional concerns, please call Jenny Dixon at International Paper. Cell:(757)510-4456

Although they are on Day 58 of a 40 day scheduled outage, the most important part is that it has been safe; without any injuries to anyone on The IP Team!