AUGUSTA — Maine Gov. Paul LePage says the chances of the shuttered Bucksport paper mill reopening are “little to none” and describes the company officials who closed the mill as “bottom feeders.”

The Kennebec Journal reported LePage made his remarks Wednesday at a Kennebec Valley Chamber of Commerce meeting in Augusta. His statements come a day after a federal judge denied a union’s request to block Verso Paper Corp.’s sale of the mill to Canadian metal recycler AIM Development.

LePage says he has no respect at all for the company and it should leave the state. The company also operates a mill in Jay that employs 850 workers.

Tennessee-based Verso closed the mill in December, saying it was no longer profitable. 

“We are not going to publicly comment on the governor’s remark,” William “Bill” Cohen, Verso’s director of communications and public affairs, said in an email sent to the Sun Journal on Thursday.

Jay Town Manager Shiloh LaFreniere also responded to a request from the Sun Journal on the governor’s comments. Verso owns the Androscoggin Mill in that town.

“The town of Jay is very sympathetic to the town of Bucksport,” Jay Town Manager Shiloh LaFreniere said. “We feel for the residents of Bucksport and the employees of the Bucksport Mill, but at the same time, we have no desire to find ourselves in the same situation. Verso is a large employer in this area, and their mill here has a large effect on our economy. Although there are challenges in the relationship, we look forward to continuing to work together with them for the betterment of our community.”

LePage also made a similar comment Thursday to reporters after his speech at the Maine Real Estate and Development Association in Portland.

Information from the Bangor Daily News was used in this report. The Sun Journal will update the story later.

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