BREWER – Routine maintenance will idle the Eastern Fine Paper Inc. mill in Brewer for two days in October. The “annual maintenance outage” is tentatively planned for Oct. 14-15, according to Doug Walsh, vice president of operations for the mill’s parent company, Eastern Pulp & Paper Co.

The sister mill in Lincoln underwent its annual maintenance outage Sept. 1-10. Some of the 715 employees at Lincoln Pulp & Paper Co. were laid off for that time period, though workers backed up maintenance crews and contractors working in the pulp mill and utilities areas. The mill’s two paper machines and two tissue machines continued to operate, Walsh said.

In Brewer, the maintenance picture is different. The paper machine and coating operation will be shut down primarily for electrical maintenance. No pulp mill exists at the South Main Street facility. Eastern Fine currently employs about 250 workers.

“The likelihood is any workers that would be laid off during that period would not be paid, but there may be other work for them in the mill during that time frame,” Walsh said Wednesday.

Eastern Pulp & Paper, which operates the two mills, is currently operating under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, which it entered in September 2000.