Berlin Pulp Mill to "Vanish"

[peakbagger]

Just in case folks didnt happen to notice that the pulp mill in Berlin was not running since early summer. Here's is an article about what will become of the facility.

http://www.unionleader.com/article....rticleId=133e057b-89e6-418a-b699-61b9a6c92f2c

 

[dug]

I was visiting relatives over the weekend, and it was weird to see nothing coming out of the stacks for the first time in memory.........

 

[dug]

I am glad the stink is gone, but I am very worried about the job loss. Very depressing to see so many people out of work and with nowhere to turn to righ tnow. Hopefully, the state backs up what they have said and will provide some type of industry incentives to build up the area.

I am trying to find ways to increase the telecommunications offerings, which will help to draw businesses, but it cost a lot of money to get services delivered outside of the general populace.

There is certainly a good news/bad news in seeing the mills decommissioned.

 

[onestep]

I am glad the stink is gone, but I am very worried about the job loss. Very depressing to see so many people out of work<snip>There is certainly a good news/bad news in seeing the mills decommissioned.

I agree. One other point to consider is that once the source of raw materials for a paper mill / wood mill is no longer used as such, the door to development is wide open.

Onestep

 

[arghman]

I'm just worried about instability... the mill closure has been a major disturbance to the Berlin economy & land use future. There's a strong analogue between economic/social disturbances, & disturbances to soil that let invasive plant species outcompete native plant species. (look at much of NJ and suburban MA and southern NH. )

I'm not going to comment much on what I consider "invasive" land uses (boom in 2nd homes; Gorham already has a Wal-mart, no Home Depot yet) but I can see something coming. I like towns that have economies / ways of life that have persisted for decades; & though it is tempting to move to the North Country myself, even if I could find a job, I am reluctant to move there & be part of a larger disturbance unless I could see myself becoming part of the traditional economies.

Though I guess this is sort of the endgame for the mill economy of the Northern Forest.

 

[bill bowden]

Berlin mill dismantling

The mill has been gradually declining in employment for numerous years and was completely closed for a while (last year?) The previous owner of the mill, possibly known as American Paper Tissue was sentenced to a lengthy prison term for fraud:"American Tissue Ex-CEO Sentenced To 15 years in Prison in Fraud (...online.wsj.com/article/SB115920675889573286.html?mod=2_1040_1 - Similar pages )" that was probably the death knell fo rthe effective long term operation of the Berlin Mill.

The town has been re-inventing itself as the site for a number of prisons, an approach I feel will have a negative impact on other employers arriving to offer better-paying jobs. Nashua, my own residence, was faced with a similar problem immediately after WW2 when Textron closed its mills in the city. Nashua was able to use its' proximity to the Boston area and large mill spaces to become a participant in the technology boom of the 70's and 80's and is now far larger and more prosperous than it was as a mill town, but it will be a real challenge for Berlin to folow the same path.