Prince Rupert pulp mill to be dismantled, finally

The city of Prince Rupert is proceeding with the removal of assets and decommissioning of a pulp mill on Waston Island, B.C., which has been shut down since 2004. The aim is to make the site useable for new development.

The city has been entangled in legal action with the mill’s former owner for years, but earlier this year, the city announced the SunWave Forest Products would pay for deconstruction, reports CFTK TV.

The assets of the Watson Island Pulp Mill will be removed by NRI Group, an Ontario-based asset management firm familiar with paper mill sites throughout North America.

Currently NRI Group is in the planning stages with Stantec, an engineering consultant, to determine which portions of Watson Island will be decommissioned as part of a complete two-year process that will begin on the island immediately.

To whom the assets may be sold to and what will be retained is also part of the planning process.

NRI reports that there are some areas that won’t be affected by the decommissioning and have been identified as being in good standing condition, such as office buildings, but the majority of the site will be decommissioned.

There is still an ongoing legal dispute regarding the ownership of the land between the city and WatCo, a subsidiary of Colonial Coal.