Spokesman confirms company signed letter awarding unnamed company exclusive negotiating rights

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BY KRIS MCDAVID
Times & Transcript Staff

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MIRAMICHI - Miramichi's shuttered Weyerhaeuser mill may not have used up all of its lives just yet.

A spokesman for the Washington State-based forestry company told the Times & Transcript yesterday that Weyerhaeuser signed a letter of intent with an unnamed company late last month for the purchase of the Chatham mill.

Wayne Roznowski, Canadian public affairs manager for Weyerhaeuser, said the letter of intent allows the company exclusive rights to negotiate the purchase of the mill over the next 60 days.

Roznowski also confirmed that Weyerhaeuser received approval and necessary permitting from the provincial Department of Environment for an Environmental Impact Assessment it registered last year for the decommissioning of the site.

"Obviously, we're not going to go ahead and begin decommissioning until this other situation plays out," he said.

"I think (this company) will also be having talks with government, with some of the same questions about wood supply and security issues."

The company previously had a tentative deal in place that would have seen Quebec forestry company Arbec take over the mill. The deal fell apart in late April after the Department of Natural Resources balked at the company's request for a substantial Crown wood allocation and its lack of a thorough business plan.

Miramichi Bay du Vin MLA Bill Fraser said he is scheduled to meet with Weyerhaeuser officials and representatives from the potential buyer sometime next week.

"It's great news, and I'm very pleased that there is somebody who's interested," Fraser said. "Hopefully they can come to a deal with Weyerhaeuser and get that mill back operating.

"It's certainly something I support. A lot of people were employed there before and it would be a great boost to the economy of the Miramichi."

The Weyerhaeuser OSB mill closed its doors in January 2007, leaving about 150 people out of work.

Business New Brunswick spokeswoman Deborah Nobes said that the company had yet to open a file with the department, noting that any discussions for the time being would remain between Weyerhaeuser and the potential buyer.