NewPage ramping up operations
Posted Aug 31, 2012 03:24:35 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The company planning to buy the idle NewPage paper mill in Cape Breton is ramping up to restart the operation.
A Nova Scotia Supreme Court judge yesterday approved a plan by Pacific West to spend of $1.5 million in public funds to prepare for the return of workers.
The money comes from a $15.8 million fund set up by the provincial government to keep the mill in a so-called hot idle mode.
Pacific West spokesman Marc Dube says the mill is being prepared to welcome back up to 150 workers at first – though the company has said about 300 will eventually be called back.
Peter Wedlake, spokesman for court-appointed monitor Ernst & Young, says the goal is to be ready to produce paper as soon as the $33 million deal to buy the mill is closed in late September.
However, Dube says the mill won’t reopen until the Canada Revenue Agency approves a discounted rate for electricity from Nova Scotia Power Inc.
The mill in Point Tupper closed last September, throwing about 600 employees out of work and affecting another 400 forestry contractors.
