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Northern Pulp cleaning equipment ahead of ‘indefinite’ Jan. 31 shutdown

Northern Pulp is taking equipment offline in preparation for its mill in Pictou County, Nova Scotia to enter an “indefinite” shutdown on Jan. 31.

A Jan. 12 statement from parent company Paper Excellence to The Canadian Press said that only the wood waste boiler will remain in operation next week, to provide heat to the mill as workers clean equipment.

As part of the shutdown, mill employees will remove chemicals, wood fibre and pulp from storage tanks and yards. (Read the full Canadian Press story on our partner site Manufacturing AUTOMATION.)

Northern Pulp is set to close Jan. 31 upon enforcement of the Boat Harbour Act, which legislates that the mill must remove its current effluent drainage pipe from the waters adjacent to Pictou Landing First Nation.

In a statement published exclusively by local news organization The Chronicle-Herald, Brian Baarda, CEO of Paper Excellence, says the company will “continue to meet with government and industry stakeholders to fight for a future for Northern Pulp in Nova Scotia.” (Read the full statement.)

The province has not yet approved the company’s plan for a replacement wastewater treatment facility. On Jan. 9, Paper Excellence said it plans to submit a new environmental assessment report for its proposed system in the hopes that Northern Pulp will operate again.

After the draft terms of reference are finalized in April, the company will have two years to submit the report.