- The Washington state attorney general’s office announced July 1 that it’s investigating whether any criminal activity contributed to the May 26 white liquor tank implosion at Nippon Dynawave Packaging in Longview that killed 11 people and injured eight others.
- Futhermore, the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries announced July 2 that in addition to its ongoing investigation of the disaster, it opened new inspections at two other kraft pulp and paper mills in the state: at Smurfit Westrock’s Longview plant down the road from NDP, and at Port Townsend Paper Co. in Port Townsend.
Production at NDP’s site remained suspended as of parent company Nippon Paper’s most recent update on June 24. It said the financial impact is still being assessed.
Washington AG to investigate Nippon Dynawave paper mill disaster | Packaging Dive
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Georgia-Pacific continues to expand its corrugated packaging business with the acquisition of Ohio-based PAX Corrugated Products. PAX operates a corrugated sheet plant with more than 100 employees in Lebanon, Ohio. Terms of the deal are not disclosed.
“Georgia-Pacific has had a working relationship with PAX Corrugated for many years so we knew their organization would be an excellent fit with the GP Corrugated team,” said Billy Medof, president – GP Corrugated. “The PAX team will continue to deliver quality products and service to their customers as they do today. Their graphics and converting proficiency will accelerate our growth in digitally printed sheets from our Digital Print Solutions business and their display capability will expand our growing display business.”
Wisconsin has lost about one-third of its paper mills in the last two decades. More companies are nearly bankrupt or are exploring the possibility of selling their mills. This fall, Industrial Assets Corp., a Los Angeles-based used machinery dealer, bought the Appleton Coated paper mill in Combined Locks, Wisconsin. In addition, Verso Corp. formed a committee to explore the potential sale of some of its mills. The company operates mills in both Duluth and Stevens Point. Jeff Landin, president of the Wisconsin Paper Council, said Wisconsin’s paper industry is doing well overall, but some mills are struggling. "You’ve seen some of that in the Appleton Coated issue where they’ve gone through receivership, but it’s really a byproduct of what they produce. It’s the coated paper market that’s challenged," he said. But, Landin said tissue, packaging and specialty papers make up more than 90 percent of products in Wisconsin’s paper industry. Click Read More below for additional information.
Paper Excellence is pleased to announce that its Prince Albert facility has been granted a softwood fibre allocation of 1,033,564 cubic meters per year by the provincial government. “This fibre is critical to the restart of the Prince Albert pulp mill which is currently planned for the fall of 2023,” said Carlo Dal Monte, Vice President of Energy and Business Development. “This decision reflects the Saskatchewan government’s forward thinking and robust job creation ambitions. They have been terrific to work with—taking a real interest in our project and the Prince Albert community.” Paper Excellence’s Prince Albert team continues to bring better definition to the project in terms of facility equipment. “We remain dedicated to completing the facility’s pre-engineering and filing necessary provincial environmental approvals to achieve our targeted late 2023 restart date,” said Dal Monte. “As with many large projects, we are refining our understanding of the facility’s economics and the needed funding arrangements.”