B.C. Supreme Court to decide fate of Northern Pulp deal - Action News
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Nova Scotia

B.C. Supreme Court to decide fate of Northern Pulp deal

A B.C. Supreme Court judge will rule Friday if the deal Nova Scotia reached last week with Northern Pulp stands. If it does, the company will begin a feasibility study on opening a new mill in Liverpool.

Premier Tim Houston has described agreement as 'fair to all sides'

White and grey smoke billows from stacks at an industrial pulp mill located behind a metal fence.
The Northern Pulp mill in Abercrombie Point, N.S., as seen in 2020. (David Gutnick/CBC)

A British Columbia Supreme Court judge will decide the fate Friday of a deal between Northern Pulp and the Nova Scotia government that Premier Tim Houston has called "fair to all sides."

At the heart of this negotiated settlement is the permanent closure of the company's pulp mill in Pictou County, N.S.,and the promise to look at opening a new operation in Liverpool. A $450-million lawsuit against the province wouldalso be withdrawn.

If the deal is approved, Paper Excellence, Northern Pulp's parent company, has promised to immediately begin work to determine the feasibilityof building and running a new pulp mill in the South Shore community that was once home to theMersey Paper Company, founded in 1929.

The mill's last owners, Resolute Forest Products, announced the shutdown of the Bowater Merseypaper millin 2012.

A group of woodlot owners, former mill employeesand their families cheered at news they might get a new mill when they gathered last week to view a remote broadcast of the premier's news conference announcing the deal.

New mill would be 'state of the art'

But Kim Masland,the local MLA and a PC cabinet minister,told reporters Thursday she's also heard from constituents concerned about having to endure what residents in Pictoulived with for decadesliving across the harbour from Northern Pulp's mill.

"Certainly I have heard from people since the announcement that that is a concern of theirs, the smell," said Maslandfollowing a cabinet meeting. "Obviously it would be a concern of mine as well.

"I grew up in Queens County. I live right in Liverpool. I don't plan on leaving, but I think all of those questions will be answered in the feasibility study."

A blonde woman with glasses standing wearing a beige coat.
Kim Masland, a PC cabinet minister and the MLA for Queens, said if a new mill goes ahead, it will use the newest technology and meet the latest environmental standards. (Robert Short/CBC)

Maslandsaid she was encouraged by the fact a new mill would be using the latest technology and builtto meet today's environmental standards.

"We know that if this mill was to go forward, that this would be a state-of-the-art mill, very similar to what we see in some of the mills in Finland," said Masland.

If the feasibility study were to determine a new mill would not be profitable enough, the deal broadly spells outPaper Excellence's obligationswhen it comes to paying back provincial loans and cleaning up the mill site atAbercrombie Point.

Cost of cleanup

Houston acknowledged it was something he's worried about.

"Of course we're concerned and have thoughts about the future of the Pictou site," Houston told reporters. "What happens on the site and how much that will cost in the future, that won't really be known until the purpose of the site has been determined."

A man with dark hair and a grey beard wearing a blue suit jacket, a white collared shirt and a mostly blue tie.
Liberal Leader Zach Churchill said cleanup of the former mill site is 'imperative.' (Robert Short/CBC)

Liberal Leader Zach Churchill said he, too, was concerned about the cleanup costs. According to the deal, Paper Excellence will set aside "$15 million toward the cleanup and maintenance of the Northern Pulp site and implement a site closure plan."

"We have to know what the overall cost is going to be," said Churchill. "We also have to know if there's going to be a plan to clean up that awful site."

Churchill said "there's a moral and environmental and ethical imperative" to clean up the site.

NDP Leader Claudia Chender echoed that sentiment, saying her party has "huge concerns" with the cleanup process.

"That should have been front and centre, frankly, in any agreement with Northern Pulp."