Nova Scotia loans NewPage $5M for energy project

ST. JOHN'S, NF, Nov. 18, 2009 (Press Release) - The province of Nova Scotia is assisting a major paper producing facility and an important employer for Cape Breton with working capital for its Port Hawkesbury mill.

A $5-million, interest-bearing loan, through the Industrial Expansion Fund, will help NewPage Port Hawkesbury Corp. improve the energy efficiency of its thermal mechanical pulping operation. The bridge loan is being made under the Large Land Purchase Program as a prepayment on the sale of land.

"This is an investment in economic growth, rural jobs and the environment," said Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal Minister Bill Estabrooks on behalf of Economic and Rural Development Minister Percy Paris. "It will help the province meet its land-conservation and other land-use objectives."

Today, NewPage leases and manages 1.5 million acres or 600,000 hectares of licensed Crown land forest in eastern Nova Scotia.

"We are pleased with this support and believe it's our corporate responsibility to protect and sustain natural resources so they are available for future generations," said director of woodlands and strategic initiatives, W.H. Stewart of NewPage. "This sale is doubly beneficial in that it will not only preserve lands of ecological significance, it will also assist us in reducing our electrical energy use through purchase of the newest, most energy-efficient manufacturing technology."

Under the Large Land Purchase Program, the government of Nova Scotia has allocated $75 million in the 2009-10 budget to purchase land for conservation and protection, recreation, forestry and resource management, as well as to help address aboriginal interests.