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Shuttered Mackenzie pulp mill officially reopens, bringing 220 jobs

MACKENZIE, B.C. — Two years after a northern Interior B.C. pulp mill closed its doors putting hundreds of people out of work, more than 220 people are getting their jobs back.

MACKENZIE, B.C. — Two years after a northern Interior B.C. pulp mill closed its doors putting hundreds of people out of work, more than 220 people are getting their jobs back.

The Mackenzie Pulp Mill officially reopened Tuesday and welcomed employees with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

The mill began turning out its first product almost two weeks ago, but Tuesday’s ceremony was the grand re-opening party attended by Premier Gordon Campbell and Forests Minister Pat Bell, whose riding includes the mill.

“What a difference a year makes and I’ll tell you the people of Mackenzie are feeling much better about it today,” said Bell.

Paper Excellence, a Netherlands-based company, has predicted an estimated 500 spin-off jobs will also be created as the mill goes back into high gear.

Two hundred and forty workers were idled when the mill closed in the spring of 2008, just months after the bankruptcy of U.S. forest company Pope and Talbot.

“It is absolutely a day of celebration today, but it is for the entire forest industry in B.C.,” said Bell.

“Lets be clear: These pulp mills add an average economic impact to the province of a quarter billion dollars per year. Just think about that: The film industry I think is about $1.2 or $1.3 billion — you get five pulp mills and you’ve got a film industry.

“This represents a huge overall economic impact and we’re very excited to have it.”

The mill, 180 kilometres north of Prince George, is Canada’s most northerly softwood market kraft pulp mill and can produce up to 235,000 metric tons of pulp annually.

Workers and management spent the past three months ramping up for production after the bankruptcy hiatus.

Paper Excellence purchased the shuttered mill last April in a $20-million deal.

It had been a long road.

After Pope and Talbot’s bankruptcy in 2007, the mill faced an uncertain future and was closed in 2008.

Troubles at the mill were compounded by a bankruptcy sale to an Edmonton-based developer, who did not have deep enough pockets to get the mill restarted.

At one point, the province stepped in to takeover responsibility of the mill to ensure it did not freeze and burst huge vats of chemicals, creating a potential environmental disaster.

The province ended up writing off the $8 million it spent to protect the mill from freezing.

The pulp mill was thrown a life line in late 2009 when a newly-formed company, which included B.C. Northern Interior regional investors, reached a six-month deal that allowed it to take possession of the mill.

That company brokered the deal with Paper Excellence.

“The recent return to production and today’s celebration represent the culmination of many, many months of hard work, time and energy invested by a dedicated group of partners,” said Bell.

The celebration Tuesday included union leaders, municipal politicians and aboriginal leaders.

Paper Excellence expects its Mackenzie operation will supply 80 per cent of its product directly to affiliated mills in Asia, with the other 20 per cent going to customers in North America.