The effectiveness of alumina-supported noble metal catalysts for the destructive oxidation of organic pollutants in effluent from a softwood kraft pulp mill was evaluated in a slurry reactor at 463 K and an oxygen pressure of 1.5 MPa. The effects of catalyst preparation procedures, such as metal loading, calcination, or reduction treatment on the catalytic activities, were also tested. Alumina-supported palladium catalysts were found to be more effective than supported manganese, iron, or platinum catalysts. The rate of oxidation over Pd/alumina catalyst was significantly higher than that of the uncatalyzed reaction. Adding Ce on the alumina support was found to promote the activity of alumina-supported Pt catalyst but inhibit the activity of alumina-supported Pd catalyst. The reaction mechanisms for the catalytic wet oxidation process and the roles of Ce on catalytic activity for destructive oxidation of organic pollutants in wastewater are discussed.