BANGOR DAILY NEWS • October 5, 2022
The recent announcement that Pixelle Specialty Papers will close the mill in Jay has sent shockwaves across the forest products industry. Indications show that Gov. Janet Mills is pushing Sappi’s mill in Skowhegan toward similar decisions about financial viability. With the closure of the Jay mill, Sappi will be only one of five major mills remaining in the state. Mills says she wants to move the state toward renewable energy, yet her agencies support the destruction of an existing source of hydropower generation and potentially thousands of jobs along with it — all for three to five fish per year. Sappi will at some point calculate that the risk of investment far outweighs the benefit of keeping the mill viable. Mills should pick up the phone today and have Maine DEP approve Brookfield’s clean water certification to allow the process to continue. ~ Sen. Brad Farrin (R), Norridgewock