EAST MILLINOCKET – The state’s congressional delegation “will move heaven and earth” to reopen Great Northern Paper, U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe told union leaders, townspeople and state and local officials gathered here Saturday.

Snowe, along with U.S. Sen. Susan Collins and U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud, spent much of the day in a series of meetings reassuring and commiserating with workers and area residents grappling with the effects of the mills in Millinocket and East Millinocket being shut down.

Gov. John Baldacci also met separately Saturday with creditors and workers in Augusta to reassure them a solution was being worked on. Baldacci spoke with two potential buyers Saturday and “they seemed interested,” said Lee Umphrey, the governor’s spokesman.

Pledging to work as a team, the two Republican senators and Democratic congressman said they have told the governor they support his efforts to work with creditors to put together a financial package to attract a new buyer.

“Time is an enemy here – so it’s important to start talking about the concrete actions we can take to reopen the mill,” Collins told one group of 50 or so people assembled Saturday morning at the Katahdin Area Technical Center.

Snowe, Collins and Michaud said they have been busy contacting federal and state officials to discuss putting rescue plans in place. Tools that could lure a buyer for Great Northern include a proposed $30 million tax credit for investors and a loan guarantee from the Rural Development Authority, the delegation members said.

The paper makers told the federal representatives they were worried the equipment in the mills could freeze, delay start-up and eventually cause environmental problems.

“There’s not an adequate plan to keep the mill warm,” said Rodney Daigle, a union official.

“The longer it goes, things will start breaking. I don’t think we’re preserving our assets fully,” he said.

The words were prophetic, as a pipe at one of the mills broke Sunday causing non-contaminated water to flow into the Penobscot River, said Umphrey. He did not know which of the two mills was involved and had no further details when contacted Sunday evening.

The governor’s spokesman said the Department of Environmental Protection would work with company employees to stop the leak today.

On Saturday, union leaders also didn’t hesitate to vent their frustrations about Lambert Bedard, president of GNP and one of the principles of Inexcon, the Quebec investment group that bought the paper company from Bowater in 1999.

The Canadian businessman, along with Inexcon and Bowater, should be held “fully accountable … for what they did to the state of Maine,” Bruce Cox, one of the union leaders, told the congressional delegation.

“If you have any means in your office to investigate this man’s holdings in Canada, please do,” said Eddie Dempsey, a union official.

Workers had offered to help the mill owner with his financial problems, according to Jay Nadeau, another union leader. “But we were denied the process. He just wouldn’t do anything with us,” he said.

Federal money to help the mill re-open shouldn’t be entrusted to Bedard, Nadeau said. “He hasn’t been able to run the mill in the last six months, and he’s not going to turn it around now,” he said.

Town officials also expressed their concerns to the delegation about the “ripple effect” of the two mills closing.

Millinocket Town Council Chairman Don McLaughlin said the town has enough money to get through June thanks to a $2 million balance in town funds and a $1.2 million tax anticipation loan.

“If there’s no money by June, East Millinocket, Millinocket and Medway are going to be looking at some hard times,” he said. “We’ll be needing to develop school and municipal budgets in the next few months and we have no idea where we’re going.”

In East Millinocket, where GNP provides 71 percent of the tax base, Mary Morris, administrator to the selectmen, said the town can operate through June “at some level,” possibly by delaying purchases and avoiding overtime. In a “worse-case scenario,” services would have to be eliminated, she said.

The towns of Millinocket, East Millinocket, Medway and Woodville are discussing a plan for sharing services, said Millinocket Town Councilor Gail Fanjoy.

“I don’t think we have a clue as to how this will impact the community, not just because [of the mills closing], but because of citizens’ ability to pay their taxes,” she said. “I fear there will be additions to the ranks of unemployed as a result of [the towns] streamlining.”

A third of the population in Medway, Millinocket and East Millinocket could be left without health care insurance because of the shutdown, said Marie Vienneaux, chief executive officer at Millinocket Regional Hospital.

The hospital and most providers haven’t received cash payments from the mill since December – “some since October,” she said.

The facility’s changeover to a “critical access” hospital in November has made things even worse because Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements have been delayed, according to the CEO.

Without the monthly $200,000 GNP payments, the hospital is relying on its reserves, which should last 20 months, Vienneaux said.

But some private practitioners have told her they have as little as four weeks of reserves left, she said.

“It’s really a severe situation for the hospital.”

Although they’re immediately focusing on reopening the mill, the delegation members said they also are thinking about interim strategies.

Snowe, who chairs the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, is looking at loans and subsidies for area businesses. She also has asked the governor to apply for a grant that would provide job training and counseling for workers losing their jobs.

Collins has contacted the Department of Environmental Protection to make sure the mill’s wastewater treatment facility is “kept functional.”

“I’m not surprised the workers feel betrayed [by Bedard],” she said. “They have every right to feel that way. He hasn’t kept his promises and he hasn’t been straightforward. There’s no excuse for that.”

Once the mill is running again, Michaud said he plans to contact U.S. companies that purchase products made outside the country.

Those companies may save some money in the short term, but in the long run, “the effect is more detrimental,” he said.

Even if the plants in Millinocket and East Millinocket get back online, it’s only a short-term fix, said Alwyn Cox, who owns a local business.

“We can’t rely on the mills. They won’t sustain us down the road. In a few years we’ll be in the same boat. It’s time to have an exploratory committee to think about diversifying the economy,” said Cox, who called nearby Mount Katahdin and the North Woods, a “gold mine.”

Supporting Cox’s call for diversification, Bruce McLean, executive director of economic development for Millinocket, East Millinocket and Medway, said there’s a reason why we “ended up where we are.”

“GNP played a significant role in making sure that no other industries came here” to compete for the work force, he said.

Reflecting on the meetings with the delegation, worker Rodney Daigle said during a phone interview later Saturday that he’s optimistic about the mill re-opening, especially in light of the $30 million tax credit for investors being pushed forward by Snowe.

“All three of our people in Washington seem like they’re really pulling out all the stops,” he said. “Just looking at how the whole process is working, the governor seems like he’s with us 100 percent. It’s pretty nice to see people work together for a change.”