The state s loggers and timber haulers are hoping the federal aid package being hammered out in Congress keeps $200 million for their industry, which has been left out of other relief packages this since March.
Lawmakers said they are close on agreement on a $908 billion aid package. If it s approved as written, it would include aid for timber harvesting and hauling businesses that have experienced a loss of 10% or more in gross revenue between Jan. 1 and Dec. 1 compared to the same period last year.
The aid for loggers would be historic, not only for Maine’s timber harvesters and haulers, but for the entire industry, said Dana Doran, executive director of the Professional Logging Contractors of Maine.
Logging organization disappointed Jay pulp mill will not be rebuilt centralmaine.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from centralmaine.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Pixelle CEO Timothy Hess said in part that the plan keeps a large number of employees working and said the company would continue to invest in the mill. Specifically, the company will invest $1 million in retraining former mill employees displaced as a result of the explosion.
No one was injured in the incident, which stopped manufacturing at the mill for eight days.
Dana Doran, executive director of the Professional Logging Contractors of Maine, said Wednesday that the Jay mill represented about 23 percent of the pulp market for the state and added $619 million to the Maine economy in 2017. He said the loss of the machine has already contributed to a 30 to 40 percent reduction in wood markets for most members of the trade association, and the permanent loss of the digester would compound severe revenue losses, layoffs, loss of clients, reduced productivity and inability to plan for the future.