Former Smurfit-Stone mill cleanup case delayed again in court

A company charged with failing to cleanup the former Smurfit-Stone mill site in Bathurst, and with violating environmental codes, is now scheduled to make its first court appearance on the charges on Dec. 7.

Bathurst Redevelopment Inc., a Canadian subsidiary of Green Investment Group, was to make its first court appearance in Bathurst court on Monday.

• Bathurst fed up with cleanup delays on old Smurfit-Stone site

•  Owner of former Smurfit-Stone mill site in Bathurst charged over cleanup

A company representative in the United States has received a copy of a summons that was sent by registered mail.

The company is asking for four weeks to prepare paperwork on the charge, so the case was adjourned to Dec. 7.

The Crown prosecutor said Monday he is not expecting any representatives from the company to be present in court on Dec. 7

The Smurfit-Stone corrugated paper mill shut down suddenly in August 2005 and put 270 people out of work.

Green Investment Group bought the former mill property in 2010 and created a Canadian affiliate, Bathurst Redevelopment Inc.

Company officials promised a "green cleanup" of the site, but instead the facility was stripped of valuable metals and machines, and left as an eyesore that is still contaminated by decades of mill activity.

There are almost a $1 million in back taxes and environmental reclamation costs associated with the former mill site.