What’s next
Mr. Forsey said according to the information everyone has, the money will be paid to
AbitibiBowater once they do their restructuring, which should be sometime in the fall. “Regarding the environmental issues, that’s still on the plate,” Mr. Forsey said. “However, we’re in a lot better position now because they have already been compensated for their assets, we own the assets, so we do have a value there. But there is an environmental issue that we still have to deal with Abitibi (on). They do have a responsibility with regards to the environmental cleanup in the province. But that part of it we can deal with after the restructuring. This leaves us from being tied up in the courts for years over the title and the compensation of that property. This is what’s so positive about this step that Ottawa took.”
The provincial government has acknowledged that the province wasn’t expecting to expropriate the buildings on the mill property.
“It came as a full package but they have a deal with that now and I’m confident that the premier and the government, once this all is settled now, will be in a position to soon make some decision on how they are going to move forward on that,” Mayor Hawkins said.
“I guess it’s going to be a decision whether this building is coming down or will there be other options for it. Is there something that can be salvaged there? Is there something that can be use for some other type of heavy industry or whatever?
“It’s another chapter in the saga that’s completed and now we move on to the next phase and see what happens.”
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