Old UPM mill demolition started
Published Friday May 1st, 2009
Delway Enterprises gets contract
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By Daniel Martins
martins.daniel@miramichileader.com
MIRAMICHI - Sunlight streamed through the window of the Umoe administration building onto a map of the old UPM site Thursday morning.
On it, almost every structure on the site was outlined either in red or green.
"Everything in red is coming down," commented Ernst Andersen, the human resources director of Umoe Solar, the Norwegian company that bought the site in January.
Demolition on some of the smaller structures began this week, although taking down all the red-lined buildings on the once-bustling pulp and paper mill site could take around two years.
Gesturing out the window, Stephen Lynch, Umoe Solar's general manager in New Brunswick, pointed out the heart of the facility, the actual pulp and paper mill itself.
"And, of course, this will all come down," he said. "All the paper mill."
It's the largest structure on the chopping block, but the company plans to keep several buildings on the site.
Among those to be spared the wrecking ball are a large structure that will be used for storing construction and demolition equipment, the administration building and large boiler facility.
Lynch notes the solar panel plant that will be built on the site in the coming years will require a lot of electricity, hence the decision to keep the boiler facility and its two turbo-generators.
Fittingly, the boiler may help the eventual plant generate its power from green sources.
"It could depend on what process is chosen, ultimately," he said. "But ... this would be a good source of green steam, because, this boiler here is already suited up to burn biomass."
Lynch said the smaller structures to be demolished will probably all be done by the end of the summer, after which work may start on the pulp and paper mill.
He noted most of the demolition would work be unseen, going on inside the structure as the demolition company strips it of anything of value.
"There's nothing in it that's worth salvaging for the new plant, but there is material in it that has value," he said. "We have been selling some pieces of equipment, and will continue to sell during the demolition project."
Local company takes the lead
Of the five companies within and without Canada vying for the chance to take on the mammoth demolition project, the contract went to Miramichi's Delway Enterprises.
"The best bid was from the local one," Andersen said. "[And] I think we'd feel more comfortable with a local company."
On the main site that morning, Delway owner David Matchett and several of his employees were inside demolition vehicles tearing apart some of the smaller structures.
Matchett said the project was the largest Delway had ever taken on.
"It's probably upward of a two year project," he estimated. "It's probably the largest demolition in Atlantic Canada, I would think, to the best of my knowledge."
The company's employment is seasonal, and Matchett reckoned up to 100 people can be employed at the peak season, with employee numbers falling down as low as half dozen when no work is going on.
For the Umoe project, he estimated his crew could number between 25 and 50 people, with maybe as much as 75 at the peak.
The metal and materials on the site are to be sold as salvage.
"We've done a lot of work on this site over the years, its sad to see it go, but we're very excited and looking forward to the future," he said of landing the contract.
"It was a long time putting this package together, and there was a lot of work went into this ... it's good for all of us, it's great for the Miramichi."
Blackville site to stay closed
Umoe finalized the purchase of all of UPM's assets in New Brunswick earlier this year, including the Blackville and Bathurst sawmills and the groundwood mill in Nelson.
On the sawmills, Andersen said the company was still assessing the situation of its assets, but was focussing more on the functional Bathurst mill rather than the still-down Blackville mill.
"I don't believe that we will have any chance to bring it back to operation," he said. "Not with the market that we have today, no."
As for the Nelson mill, Lynch said the company could not figure out an alternative use for it, so it is also included in Delway's contract, and the company has applied for an environmental impact assessment (EIA) for its eventual demolition.
Umoe applied for an EIA for the Newcastle site last year, and it was carried over the Umoe when the bought the site.
As for the eventual solar plant, Andersen said there were currently no blueprints ready, and the company was focussing on the demolition at the moment.
"We have a couple of different options," he said.
All the same, Lynch said he was pleased the demolition was moving ahead, even though heavy demolition equipment won't be on the site until after June 1.
"We're pretty excited, because it's a good sign," he said. "Right now, the footprint's being cleared."
When asked if the current world financial crisis weighed on the company's mind as it forged ahead, Andersen speculated that was probably the reason the unnamed company interested in UPM's New Brunswick assets eventually withdrew its bid.
At the time, Andersen said, that company was in talks to take all the assets. Umoe was interested in the Newcastle site, and Andersen explained the U.S. company would do the demolition, then sell the site to Umoe.
Before Christmas, though, the U.S. company lost interest, leaving Umoe with the choice to buy the facility outright.
"To stay with our project and to put up this facility in New Brunswick, that was the choice that we actually did have," he said.
"That [was when] we take the decision ... before Christmas last year, and go into the same negotiation and contracting that this U.S. company had with UPM. And at that moment, we [took] the decision to purchase everything."
When asked if the crisis worried the company or might affect its long term plans, Andersen said Umoe was treating the demolition and planned plant as two separate things, but noted the plant was purchased with the knowledge there was a crisis.
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