Northern Pulp receives remaining $13.7M from defunct Jobs Fund
All $111.7M promised to mill by previous NDP government now dispersed
The Nova Scotia government is making its final $13.7-million disbursement to Northern Pulp under a provincial funding program that no longer exists.
In April 2013, the previous NDP government granted the Pictou County pulp and paper mill loans and incentives worth $21.7 million under the now defunct Nova Scotia Jobs Fund. According to the current Liberal government, the money was aimed to help the company improve air quality and efficiency.
The final disbursement of that money was announced Friday, and includes $12 million for a precipitator and $1.7 million for natural gas conversion. The government says Northern Pulp has met purchasing and commissioning conditions laid out by the agreement.
This comes even as Northern Pulp and the province are in a battle over the mill's industrial approval. The company has taken the government to court, arguing new environmental conditions are virtually impossible to meet.
The mill had also been granted money under two previous Jobs Fund agreements: $15 million for working capital in 2009 and $75 million for land purchase in 2010.
According to the province, all money promised to the mill under the previous Jobs Fund agreement — totalling $111.7 million — has now been fully dispersed.