The truck gate at Pixelle Androscoggin Mill in Jay is padlocked March 9, a day after the paper mill ceased operations. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal file
JAY — A lead partner in the company seeking to buy the Androscoggin Paper mill said Monday that many details need to be worked out for the sale and redevelopment of the property at 300 Riley Road.
An application filed with the Maine Department of Environmental Protection seeks to transfer a variety of permits, including air, wastewater, stormwater and solid waste, to JGT2 Redevelopment of Kansas for the take over of the former Pixelle Specialty Solutions mill and properties, and the natural gas-fired cogeneration plant.
“The permit transfer applications are one of the earlier items you need to do in a transaction like this,” business partner Greg Schain of New Hampshire wrote in an email. “It’s not a last step, so there’s a lot of variables still up in the air on when this closes. We need both state and federal approvals here. But we are on the right track and have a lot of ideas.”
JGT2 Redevelopment plans to redevelop the mill and cogeneration facility to other industrial uses, according to the application. It proposes to restart the cogeneration plant to produce power to sell to the grid while redeveloping the properties associated with the former mill.
The company will also take on closing the landfills on the site. There are two active ones sand one that is closed.
Additionally, it is considering resizing the wastewater treatment system to match the new industrial uses for the facility.
Questions to be answered, Schain said, include when the sale of the mill will go through and what the new company plans to do.
The Franklin County Registry of Deeds did not have a deed recording of the transaction as of Monday.
Schain said JGT2 Redevelopment was formed in Delaware, but “Kansas is our main corporate office.” His partner, Tony McDonald, is based in Maine, he said.
The pulp and paper mill formally ceased operations in March. The remaining industrial equipment is being decommissioned. The cogeneration facility is idled but remains operational.
Pixelle employs six people to maintain operations and oversee decommission activities. Charles Kraske, site and environmental manager for Pixelle, is on site and working on these matters.
Langan Engineering and Environmental Services Inc. of Arlington, Virginia, which has offices around the world, including Massachusetts and London, submitted the application to transfer permits on behalf of JGT2 Redevelopment.
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