(NEWS CENTER) -- Expera Specialty Solutions, LLC announced Tuesday the shutdown of assets related to the Old Town pulp mill in Maine.
Expera purchased the facility after the mill had been closed indefinitely by its previous owners.
"Expera successfully restarted the mill," said Russ Wanke, President and CEO of Expera Specialty Solutions. "However, since the restart, the decline of the Canadian dollar exchange rate combined with a significant increase of new pulp capacity has led to a material drop in market pulp prices. In addition, wood costs have not moderated in Maine commensurate with demand decline. The combination of these forces does not allow sustainable operations even with a dedicated and talented team of employees."
"The employees of Old Town have worked hard to make this operation viable," Wanke continued. "We are working with the employees to assist them with the impacts of this decision and unfortunately these market conditions were out of their individual control."
The Old Town mill will be closed by the end of December and Expera is working with the Maine Department of Labor to assist the affected workers.
"The workers at Old Town have been absolutely dedicated and is a talented group, so it is very difficult. We are working with them to assist them on the impacts of this decision and we are working with the Department of Labor in Maine. Unfortunately, these market conditions were completely out of the employee's individual control," said Expera spokeswoman, Addie Teeters.
This is a roller coaster for those mill workers and for the town and it's deja vu all over again. Some residents call it devastating, others said they are disappointed but not surprised. Dan Ouellette lost his job when the mill shut down in 2010, so he knows exactly how the mill workers are feeling. The question remains: what are these soon-to-be unemployed mill workers going to do? The mood in Old Town is one of worry and uncertainty. Ouellette said the people he is most worried about are the people in their mid-fifties.
"When I worked at the mill and GP shut the mill down, I was 57-years-old, and I'm saying to myself, 'where am I going to go?' I've worked there all my life, the mill's down, I'm 57, who's going to hire me?"
Following the news of the shutdown, Democratic Sen. Jim Dill explained how this recent move is a "a huge economic blow for our region, and devastating news to the mill's workers and their families."
"While I remain hopeful that a suitable buyer will commit to keeping this productive facility open, we must in the meantime do everything we can to support the nearly 200 men and women who make their living in the mill and who stand to lose their jobs through no fault of their own. I am committed to doing whatever I can to ensure those workers land on their feet, regardless of what the future holds for Old Town Fuel and Fiber," Dill said.
According to Teeters, the company will be looking into selling off the mill after the shutdown, but it is too soon to go into specifics as to whether they would sell if off in parts or as a whole.
