New pulp mill slated for High Prairie

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A $600 million pulp and paper mill is being considered for the High Prairie area but a similar-sized project planned for High Level is now on hold.

Windspeaker has learned that YFY Pulp & Paper Canada Ltd. has completed a feasibility study and has submitted a proposal to the province to build a chemithermomechanical (CTMP) mill about 15 miles west of Falher, near High Prairie.

High Prairies is located 366 kilometers northwest of Edmonton.

YFY is a subsidiary of a Taiwan company called Yuen Foong Yu (YFY) Paper Manufacturing Company Ltd. The mill would be the first major Taiwanese investment in Canada.

It's one of two forestry developments proposed for the High Prairie area currently under review by the province.

Recommendations have been submitted to cabinet, according to Nick Gartaganis, director of economic and financial analysis with the provincial forestry, lands and wildlife department.

The other proposal has been submitted by a Canadian company--Polyboard Manufacturing Corp.--which wants to build a chipboard plant at High Prairie. Gartaganis gave a ballpark figure of $100 million for the Polyboard plant.

The developments would be located between Peavine and Gift Lake Metis Settlements and the East Prairie Metis Settlement. Also nearby are the Sucker Creek, Grouard and Driftpile Indian Reserves.

"It's a question of the government evaluating the different proposals and deciding if one or the other is suitable for the area," said Gartaganis.

Both projects would require similar amounts of timber both from Forest Management Areas and nearby private landowners, including Metis settlements, he said.

Martin McLeod, YFY vice-president, said the company hopes to meet in the near future with representatives of the Metis settlements and Indian bands located near the proposed site.

He said the company is confident it can win public support for its pulp and paper project. The CTMP mill, unlike a bleached kraft mill wouldn't add pollutants like organochlorines, dioxins and furans to the area's river system, said McLeod.

But "it won't be without its challenges," he said, alluding to the rough ride given to proposed pulp and paper projects by environmentalists and Natives.

"We'll just have to wait and see what the reaction is. The project is a good one for the province," McLeod said. "We will be doing a very, very detailed environmental impact assessment."

The pulp mill will employ 150 people while another 150 will be employed in woods' operations. When the fine paper machine is added five years later, another 150 people will be hired at the mill.

Dennis Cunningham, Peavine Settlement administrator, said while the number of jobs to be created by the project sounds promising, the mill's 150 jobs would be of minimal benefit to his settlement, because it would be too far for workers to commute.

"The bushland operations might be of benefit to everybody," he added.

Cunningham expressed mixed feelings about the YFY project. "Anytime you take timber out of an area, there's economic good in it. But on the other hand, there are traditional pursuits on a settlement we like to uphold like hunting."

It's too early to pass judgment on the project since the settlement has yet to see any of the company's plans, he said. A meeting scheduled for earlier this week was canceled by the company.

Meanwhile, Cliff Smith, acting deputy minister of forestry, lands and wildlife, confirmed reports an American multinational pulp and paper company, Parsons-Whittemore, has shelved plans to build a pulp mill near High Level.

That mill would be located north of Paddle Prairie Metis Settlement and near the Dene Tha' and Boyer River Indian Reserves.

The move follows controversial hearings held on the $1.3 billion proposed Alberta-Pacific pulp mill, which would be built near Athabasca.

After observing that often very bitter public hearing process, Parsons-Whittemore decided to back off, said Forestry Minister LeRoy Fjordbotten.