KINGSPORT, Tennessee — The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation has fined Domtar $64,650 for violating its water discharge permit multiple times in the months following startup of its new Kingsport recycled packaging facility. The company can avoid paying nearly $52,000 of the penalty if it submits an acceptable “corrective action plan” and meets milestones designed to ensure compliance. …TDEC staff began investigating “multiple complaints of a white slime in the stream” from outfalls into the South Fork Holston River as early as March 31, 2023. Domtar began operating its new plant Jan. 15, 2023. …Testing showed that “biochemical oxygen demand” levels exceeded permit effluent levels in February and March, 2023. East Tennessee State University biology professor Joe Bidwell said any impacts on “resident organisms” were probably mitigated by the type of water the effluent was entering.