{"id":8433,"date":"2025-03-11T10:34:14","date_gmt":"2025-03-11T13:34:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/?p=8433"},"modified":"2025-03-11T19:27:32","modified_gmt":"2025-03-11T22:27:32","slug":"no-business-case-yet-for-new-mill-in-liverpool-northern-pulp-says-as-extension-granted","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/2025\/03\/11\/no-business-case-yet-for-new-mill-in-liverpool-northern-pulp-says-as-extension-granted\/","title":{"rendered":"No business case yet for new mill in Liverpool, Northern Pulp says, as extension granted"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

An undated aerial photo of the former Bowater Mersey plant in Brooklyn. (Queens County Historical Society Photo Collection, housed at the Queens County Museum)<\/p><\/div>\n

UPDATED March 11, 6:30 p.m.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Northern Pulp says it\u2019s struggling to make a business case for a new mill in Liverpool.<\/span><\/p>\n

As part of a settlement agreement reached with the Nova Scotia government in May 2024<\/a>, Northern Pulp launched a nine-month feasibility study into a new bioproducts mill in Queens County.<\/span><\/p>\n

The province has agreed to give the company a five-week extension as it tries to figure out whether a new kraft pulp mill is viable in the area.<\/span><\/p>\n

In separate statements released Monday night, both the province and Northern Pulp parent company Paper Excellence said the company hasn\u2019t yet been able to make a business case for a successful mill.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nova Scotia\u2019s Natural Resources Minister Tory Rushton told QCCR on Tuesday that the province has worked with Paper Excellence for the past nine months on the study.<\/span><\/p>\n

He said the province needs a processor for the forestry sector\u2019s pulp wood.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe know we need a home for the low-grade wood fibre but at the end of the day, this is going to be a business decision from their part,” Rushton said. <\/span><\/p>\n

“We\u2019re willing to work with them to meet the environmental standards of a new-era mill that would find a home for ecologically produced forest products. I don’t want to speculate what the next five weeks may bring, but we\u2019re supportive of this extension.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Paper Excellence, owned by forestry giant Domtar, estimates a new mill would cost $2.5 billion in government and private funding to design and build. And it would require a rate of return of 14 per cent, as outlined in the settlement agreement.<\/span><\/p>\n

The company\u2019s statement said that while the proposed new facility doesn\u2019t meet that threshold, it plans to look for more financing in the next five weeks to get the project going.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAs of today, the proposed new facility’s (rate of return) does not meet the threshold (rate of return),\u201d the company said in the statement.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, the company will use the extension period to continue working to identify and evaluate potential financing opportunities to benefit the project.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Rushton said he\u2019s hopeful the company can make it work.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end of the day, we’ve taken all the measures we can to support their information and allow them to make an educated decision. So we’re certainly hopeful there could be a postiive outcome in this.<\/span><\/p>\n

“There are different companies that are looking at using wood fibre for renewable biofuels, renewable aviation fuels, things that have to utilize bioproducts from ecological forestry practices. So we\u2019re interested in having a conversation with anyone that wants to come and have a conversation about using our bioproducts from forestry activities.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Ashley Christian, president of the South Queens Chamber of Commerce, said she wasn\u2019t surprised by the delay.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think there’s so much uncertainty in the economy at the moment and certainly a bioproducts mill would be affected by any potential tariffs that could still exist by the time this mill would be operating,” she told QCCR on Tuesday. “I\u2019m not surprised that Domtar wasn\u2019t ready with a decision. And I anxiously await May and for them to publish that decision.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Christian said local reaction to a new mill in Queens County remains mixed.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think that residents recognize the potential economic impact of a mill in our county, however on the flip side recognize the potential environmental and health concerns as well. So I echo the concerns of our residents and agree with them. … I think (the feasibility study is) just the first part of this. That’s when the real work begins as citizens and for the business community to advocate for Queens County and the health of our environment here.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

According to Northern Pulp, the feasibility study looked at a mill that would produce kraft pulp, as well as biogas and biochemicals used in food, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and adhesives. The study also considered green energy projects, including a plan for carbon capture and storage.<\/span><\/p>\n

Last May, Premier Tim Houston announced a deal with Paper Excellence. That was to settle the company\u2019s $450-million lawsuit against the province after Northern Pulp was forced to close its mill in Pictou County in 2020 because of environmental concerns.<\/span><\/p>\n

The company has been under creditor protection since the shutdown.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A hearing is scheduled in British Columbia Supreme Court for Friday (March 14) under the Companies\u2019 Creditors Arrangement Act so that the company can ask for the five-week extension to find more funding for the project.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bowater operated a pulp and paper mill in Brooklyn from 1929 to 2012, over the years employing thousands of people in Queens County.<\/p>\n

When it closed, it threw 320 people out of work.<\/p>\n

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Listen to the audio version of this story below<\/p>\nhttps:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/northernpulpmillfolomar1125.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

UPDATED March 11, 6:30 p.m.\u00a0 Northern Pulp says it\u2019s struggling to make a business case for a new mill in Liverpool. As part of a settlement agreement reached with the Nova Scotia government in May 2024, Northern Pulp launched a nine-month feasibility study into a new bioproducts mill in Queens County. The province has agreed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[13,5],"tags":[2955,1897,2872,2259,39,2873,2225,2226,2227,98,719],"class_list":["post-8433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-community-news","category-news-posts","tag-bioproducts-mill","tag-bowater-mersey","tag-domtar","tag-kraft-pulp-mill","tag-liverpool","tag-mill","tag-northern-pulp","tag-paper-excellence","tag-pulp-mill","tag-tim-houston","tag-tory-rushton"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8433","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8433"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8433\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8441,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8433\/revisions\/8441"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8433"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8433"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8433"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}