Domtar mum on return of workers

BAILEYVILLE – Washington County’s largest employer, Domtar Inc. pulp and paper mill, has given no indication when the nearly 90 employees who were laid off last month will be back to work.

State Sen. Kevin Raye and Rep. Anne Perry met with the Town Council on Monday night to discuss the paper machine shutdown, which occurred last month. No startup date was announced.

“I have been in touch directly with Domtar and I have not received any more information than the town has at this point,” said Raye, R-Perry.

Perry, D-Calais, said she recently spoke with the governor’s staff, who is talking with the company. “They are still talking, and they have nothing to report at this point,” she said.

Town Manager Scott Harriman said he had spoken with Domtar on Monday and it continues to be in a holding pattern.

This is the third time in the past eight months that the paper machine has been down. The mill, which dates to 1906, has about 500 workers.

The cut-size operation, which cuts large rolls of paper into 81/2-by-11-inch sheets, also shut down last month.

Although the paper machine is down, the production of pulp – the raw material that Domtar ships worldwide for use in the papermaking process – will continue.

Council Chairman Dottie Johnson asked the legislators if Domtar had talked with them about the money the company has spent to remain in compliance with environmental laws. “When they came in and talked to us, they said some of their competitors were not held to the same new federal regulations,” she said. She did not elaborate

Harriman said the company has spent millions of dollars to retrofit the facility to bring it into compliance while another company in the state has been given “an extended time on environmental compliance.” “That’s not a level playing field for our folks here,” he said.

It has been a tough few months for Domtar employees.

In May, the same 90 employees returned to work after being out of work for about a month. The cut-size machine was switched back on the day after Memorial Day after having been turned off April 5.

And last November the company announced it was cutting back production for two months because of the same market-related conditions. Production resumed in January.

Since the shutdown there have been reports that the paper machine was dismantled and parts shipped to other Domtar facilities, but Domtar spokesman Scott Beal said Tuesday that was not true. “You can hear just about anything and everything,” he said. “The paper machine is ready to go on short notice.”

Domtar Corp. is the largest integrated producer of uncoated free sheet paper and one of the largest manufacturers of paper grade material pulp in North America. The company designs, manufactures, markets and distributes a wide range of business, commercial printing, publication and technical and specialty papers under recognized brands.

The company employs nearly 14,000 people, with more than 7,000 in the United States.