HALIFAX — Nova Scotia’s environment minister said Thursday there is no set deadline for Northern Pulp to submit a cleanup plan for its shuttered mill site near Pictou, N.S.
Tim Halman told reporters following a cabinet meeting that the next step for the insolvent company is to submit a reclamation plan for the site that will be assessed by his department.
“Once we have the specifics of the plan, we will have more to say,” Halman said of his department’s expectations for the mill site cleanup.
The mill located in Abercrombie Point, N.S., directly across the harbour from Pictou, used to produce bleached kraft pulp — an ingredient for paper.
Northern Pulp announced last week that it was starting a court-supervised sale of its assets as part of a creditor protection process. The company took the step after a feasibility study concluded that it could not achieve the 14 per cent internal rate of return required in a settlement agreement with the province to develop a bioproducts facility near Liverpool, N.S.
The company has been under creditor protection since closing the mill in June 2020 after it failed to meet provincial environmental requirements for a new effluent treatment plant.
Under the settlement agreement the cost for the company to implement its mill site closure plan is $15 million. Halman wouldn’t say whether that figure will be enough and wouldn’t speculate on what would happen if Northern Pulp doesn’t have enough money left over to cover the cost following the court process.
“I’m not going to speak to hypotheticals because my department and my staff and myself don’t know until we have a reclamation plan from the company,” the minister said.
Northern Pulp was not immediately available for comment on Thursday.
The nearly 200,000 hectares of company-managed timberlands is also in the process of being sold off, and Natural Resources Minister Tory Rushton said Thursday that the provincial government is watching to see how that process unfolds.
“This is historical lands that the forestry sector has utilized for the economy … so we are paying attention to ensure that land stays within the forestry sector,” Rushton said, although he wouldn’t say whether the province would consider buying it.
“We want to see what the rules are before we make any decisions,” he said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 24, 2025.
Keith Doucette, The Canadian Press
