$20 million for Minas Basin

BY JENNIFER HOEGG

The Hants Journal

NovaNewsNow.com

More good news for Hantsport’s Minas Basin Pulp and Power arrived April 2 with a large cash injection from the provincial government.

Just months after Minas Basin was chosen to build the host facility for the province’s tidal energy project, Premier Rodney MacDonald was in Hantsport to announce a $20.7 million investment package.

The money will advance two new initiatives - turning wood waste into electricity and plastics into diesel fuel - and secure 180 jobs. Minas Basin will invest a further $27 million in the projects and expects to add another 20 employees.

Speaking to a large crowd of Minas Basin management, employees, Hantsport residents and local officials, MacDonald lauded the company’s role in environmentally sustainable economic development in rural Nova Scotia.

“Economic growth should never and can never come at the expense of our environment. My hat goes off to your talented workforce, the management and the Board for their commitment.”

MacDonald added the announcement demonstrates his government’s commitment to the Environmental Goals and Sustainable Prosperity Act.

Calling it an exciting day, Minas Basin president and chief operating officer Scott Travers told the crowd he’s “proud and honoured that the government of Nova Scotia recognizes our commitment to our workforce, our community, our province and our environment.”

Travers credited the company’s workforce for Minas Basin’s continuing success.

Creative funding package

The $20.7 million will come from several government sources: Department of Economic Development’s Industrial Expansion Fund and Nova Scotia Strategic Opportunities Fund; Department of Environment’s EcoTrust fund; and a land sale to the Department of Natural Resources.

All three ministers were on hand to help MacDonald and Hants West MLA Chuck Porter announce the new funding.

Minister of Economic Development Angus MacIsaac praised Minas Basin for creating jobs in rural Nova Scotia and for helping the province move towards its “goal of becoming economically and environmentally prosperous.”

Environment Minister Mark Parent applauded the company for showing environmentally sound practices to be sound business sense.

Natural Resources Minister David Morse announced that an 820-hectare plot of land, adjacent to Blomidon Provincial Park, was bought from Minas Basin, calling it, “a great parcel on Cape Split. Glooscap will be smiling down on us today.”

Morse dubbed Minas Basin’s cardboard recycling the linchpin of the province’s waste management plan.

Local energy

Part of the provincial investment will fund the development of a 30,000-square-foot co-generation facility to produce electricity from forestry waste products, like bark and sawmill residues. The project will allow Minas Basin to stop burning Bunker C fuel oil, reducing emissions by 75,000 metric tones, and to switch to a local source of fuel.

The second project is a 10,000-square-foot processing plant to turn plastics into diesel fuel. If successful, the plastics-to-fuel project will use 4,000 tonnes of type three to seven. These plastics are currently only recycled in a few municipalities and that diverted from the landfill must be shipped away for recycling.

Dwight Whynot, president of Minas Basin’s sister company Scotia Recycling Limited, says that minimizing the need for export is a big step. “The real driver here is having a local use.” Commercial and agricultural plastic waste could be used also, Whynot added. “There are a whole bunch of other opportunities here.”

Green past, present and future

Minas Basin has a history of “green” initiatives. Founded by the Jodrey family in 1927, the company has generated its own hydroelectric power for 80 years and is preparing to test a tidal energy project.

On the pulp side, Minas Basin recycles 45,000 tonnes of corrugated cardboard into paperboard each year. Travers says this process saves a great deal of energy, water and minimizes pollution. It also saves 1,500,000 trees a year.

In 2007, the Hantsport plant’s geothermal heat recovery technology earned the company an award for outstanding results.

Travers emphasized that Minas Basin wants to continue to improve its environmental record and move toward a goal of zero net air emissions and green certification.

“This is a new world we are now entering and this is a great start to more projects we will embrace. This is a very exciting time for challenges and change.”

Local praise

Porter, who emceed the announcement event, called Minas Basin an essential employer for his rural riding, adding, “this company and the Jodrey family were green before it was a buzzword.”

After the announcement, local representatives commended Minas Basin and the province’s investment. Windsor’s deputy mayor Andy Kirk extended “congratulations from the citizens of Windsor.” West Hants Warden Richard Dauphinee congratulated, the company as well.

“I can’t get over the foresight they have: always thinking 25-50 years ahead,” he said.

The morning’s speeches were about numbers, but the announcement brings an immeasurable reward to Hantsport - security. Mayor Wayne Folker said Minas Basin’s continued innovations will bring peace of mind to his constituents. “There’s the psychological effect of people knowing that 10, 15 or 20 years from now there will still be something here."