Pulp mill shutting down all production

Mayor Greg Dionne said he understands why they made the call they did.

“The quality of the fuel that they were using to produce Co-Gen (Generation) was not there because it was in the ground for too long and it decayed so it just wasn’t being profitable,” he said. “They are still negotiating with Domtar about the pulp side of it but those are confidential so they’ve decided to close all operations at the mill until they can start up the main plant.”

There were 40 people working onsite, and Dionne said it’s not looking good for future jobs at this point.

“What’s disappointing for us, is we want to see 2 to 300 people working out there so it’s disappointing for us because we’re not going to get that job growth right away,” he said.

Dionne said it may not have been the outcome he hoped for, but it wasn’t much of a surprise considering lack of profits.

“Ever since I became mayor I’ve been monitoring that situation because of course with economic development we have an opportunity right there, let’s get our mill producing and put 2 to 300 people back to work,” he said. “Of course that hasn’t happened but we’re going to continue to work on that goal.”

They are still hoping for a startup date in 2015 but that depends on their negotiations with the former owners of the mill, Domtar.

The existing moratorium agreement prevents Paper Excellence from competing with Domtar.

asoloducha@rawlco.com

On Twitter: @alex_soloducha

by Alex Soloducha

Pulp mill shutting down all production

By Alex Soloducha

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