OLD TOWN – Georgia-Pacific Corp. announced Wednesday that the two tissue paper machines that have been shut down will remain so indefinitely.

The sluggish economy is being blamed for the shutdown, which has affected 60 of the mill’s 600 employees.

“People aren’t buying as much paper towel or bath tissue as they have in the past,” G-P senior communications manager Robert Burns said Wednesday.

Although they are still receiving health benefits, the affected employees have been forced to take vacation or unpaid time off, according to Burns. He did not want to speculate as to when the machines might be restarted.

“We’ll continue to look at market conditions and volume increases on orders for products,” Burns said. The mill needs to balance its inventory with market needs before the machines can be brought back up.

The indefinite shutdown is a continuation of the planned curtailment of the machines that was announced in late February, according to Burns.

In addition, limited production shutdowns will occur in the tissue converting department. One of the mill’s 11 conversion lines currently is not operating. However, there have been no layoffs in the conversion lines. Employees have been relocated to other parts of the mill during the brief shutdowns.

“It’s not anything to do with the quality of work,” Burns said. “It’s just the situation at hand.”

G-P’s tissue shipping operation will continue to serve its customers, according to mill officials.

Attempts to reach a union official were unsuccessful.