Crane Currency’s historic manufacturing site located in Dalton, Massachusetts, is also the headquarters for Crane Currency. Established in 1801 by Zenas Crane, the Dalton campus today includes two paper mills, raw material processing capabilities, and a Research & Development facility. In 1879, W. Murray Crane secured the Company’s first order to produce US currency paper at this site, and we are extremely proud of our 140-year history and our critical role as the sole supplier providing paper for US currency to the United States Treasury Department’s Bureau of Engraving & Printing.
Papermaking is a very water-intensive process relative to the other types of manufacturing processes employed across Crane, and the Dalton site accounts for 71% of Crane’s overall manufacturing water use. The Dalton site recognizes the potential influence of its water use, and it has a long history of working to minimize its impact on the water ecosystem and to preserve natural resources.
Our Dalton site first shows respect for the local community’s needs by extracting 84% of its water requirements from artesian wells rather than from local municipal water sources. To further reduce the strain on the local environment, a substantial portion of the water used in the early stages of the manufacturing process is captured and re-used elsewhere before being discharged. Once the water has cycled through the entire process, the site goes one step further—90% of the discharged water is captured and returned to local water supplies after extensive filtering and treatment.
Wastewater from the Dalton campus’s four manufacturing buildings flows to the site’s dedicated wastewater treatment plant that cleans approximately four million gallons of water each day. In the treatment plant, the wastewater undergoes a series of mechanical, chemical, and biological processes to rapidly settle and remove sludge, which is then transported off-site and composted. Once fully processed, the wastewater is released to the east branch of the Housatonic River under a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit, successfully reintroducing surface water to the environment. Testing confirms that the released, treated water is cleaner than the natural river!
While our Dalton site utilizes a large amount of water in their processes, the overall environmental impact is extremely low thanks to these preservation efforts. Water preservation at the Dalton site receives a lot of attention given the volume used, but environmental awareness extends to other areas as well. For example, since 1996, all residuals from the pulp and paper manufacturing processes are recovered and composted into a fertile topsoil highly valued by the local farming community, and we produce more than 15,000 cubic yards of composted organic matter for agricultural use each year. Crane Currency also uses renewable power sources such as hydroelectricity and steam cogeneration in its manufacturing facilities. In 2013, a new hydroelectric turbine was commissioned to generate electric power and to reduce emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrous oxide, and greenhouse gases. Crane Currency has also donated numerous land holdings for conservation, making new areas permanently open to the public for hiking and outdoor enjoyment. The site will continue to strive to do what it can to reduce its footprint on the environment.