The recently reported job cuts at the International Paper Mill in Jay are an unfortunate hardship for the workers and their families. It’s important to note that the reasons cited for these job cuts coincide precisely with the arguments recently proposed by members of the Androscoggin River Alliance.

While the alliance’s primary focus is to foster legislation to raise the river to Clean Water Act class C standards, it has also been the position of its members that this can be accomplished while protecting mill jobs. Bringing our mills into compliance is practical and economical, but it requires that their hardware and processes be upgraded. It is no surprise to see that IP is cutting jobs due to a shutdown of the No. 1 paper machine at the Jay facility. But John Williams, president of Maine Pulp and Paper Association, is “not particularly nervous about IP’s shutting down one of its oldest machines. The paper machine being shut down is less profitable.” He should tell that to the laid-off workers.

So the protests of the paper industry to the contrary, mill jobs are lost in Maine because the paper companies are unwilling to invest in modern technology here, not because of requirements to reduce the amount of sewage they dump into our river. Their arguments against Rep. Makas’ legislation to clean up the Androscoggin are just another form of pollution – a verbal smoke screen designed to deceive the Legislature and the voters of Maine.

Debra Reny, Greene

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