Potash mine closure will impact Sussex for years: northern mayors

Mayors of communities that faced the loss of major employers have reached out tosupport Sussex as thebrand new Picadilly mineprepares to shut down.

Dalhousie Mayor Clement Tremblay says he sympathizes with the mine workers who face job losses, and the broader community.

He says Dalhousie is still feeling the consequences of the AbitibiBowater Inc. paper mill's shutdown in 2008.

"It was a devastating effect to our population and to the Town of Dalhousie," Tremblay said in an interview Monday onInformation Morning Saint John.

"It was a shock to the town, a shock to the region, to the people who stayed, to the people who commuted back and forth out west We saw a dramatic change in the lifestyle of the people of Dalhousie."

Tremblay said Dalhousie had a population of 4,200 when the mill closed, with approximately 350 of them working at the mill. The town's population dropped by 4.5 per cent in the 2011 census and is now listed at3,512.

Similarly, PotashCorp employs430 mine workers in the community of 4,300.

Tremblay says the hit was magnified in his community because it lost two other key industriesthe hospital in 2004, and the thermal plant in 2013.

Diversify economy

"This is where we had to start thinking we're not just a one town industry," Tremblay said. "You have to diversify your economy and we're at that stage now and it's a difficult task to do, but I think at the end of the day I think we can come over that hurdle."

Bathurst also faced a difficult future when theSmurfit-Stonepaper millshut down suddenly in August 2005 andput 270 people out of work.

Mayor Stephen Brunetsays retraining was the main concern in the months that followed.

"The workers and the families of those that lost their jobs should be number one on the priority list right now, and the province can help to get them through this time," Brunet said.

"It won't go away instantly and the people who were working there, their lives are changed considerably but Sussex is located in a good position in the province, they can surely rebound and other industries would probably like to go and settle there as well."

Brunet said Bathurst lost $1 million in taxes alone when the mill shut down, but other industries, like the Bathurst Airport picked up in the years that followed.

"So there is probably a good outlook for the future, but you have to change gears and that's hard at first."

PotashCorp is the main employer in the town of Sussex, and thejobs pay between $80,000 and $120,000.

About 100 employees will remain on the payroll for an estimated four-month transitionperiod. Then about 35 people willhandle care and maintenance of the mothballed facility for as long as the mine is closed.

Picadilly, a $2.2-billion project, whichwas just recently completed, was expected to have a 73-year lifespan.

ButMarkFracchia, the president of PCS Potash and a former general manager for the New Brunswick mine, saidtheplunge in potash prices on theworld market anda drop in demand from China, combined with thechallenging geology of the area,left the company with no alternative.