© 2024 Maine Public | Registered 501(c)(3) EIN: 22-3171529
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Scroll down to see all available streams.

Owners Of Androscoggin Mill Says It Will Be A While Before Mill Can Produce Pulp Again

The company that owns the Androscoggin Mill heavily damaged in yesterday's massive explosion says it will be a significant length of time before the mill will be able to produce pulp again. In a press release, the Pennsylvania based Pixelle Specialty Solutions says the explosion was caused by a ruptured pulp digester that was damaged extensively.

The company says they are trying to determine what caused the incident and to identify additional corrective and preventative actions.

While Pixelle says it can't estimate exactly when any part of the mill will restart, it is exploring options to resume operating its paper machines, which were not affected by the blast, as soon as possible.

Pixelle says that, at the time of the incident, the mill employed around 500 people and that around 200 were onsite.

All employees, contractors and other people on site were accounted for. The company says the incident resulted in no injuries.

Ed is a Maine native who spent his early childhood in Livermore Falls before moving to Farmington. He graduated from Mount Blue High School in 1970 before going to the University of Maine at Orono where he received his BA in speech in 1974 with a broadcast concentration. It was during that time that he first became involved with public broadcasting. He served as an intern for what was then called MPBN TV and also did volunteer work for MPBN Radio.