AUGUSTA (AP) – An Eastern Pulp and Paper Corp. creditor agreed Tuesday evening to put up money to keep the company’s closed Brewer and Lincoln plants heated for another day or two while a buyer is being sought, Gov. John Baldacci said.

Corsair Special Situations Fund LP of New York City agreed to provide $50,000 after daylong talks between company representatives and creditors failed to produce a financing scheme to keep the plants heated and ready for renewed operation.

With no money available to maintain equipment and keep the mills heated, the Baldacci administration summoned the two sides to the State House to try to come up with an agreement.

Baldacci believes the mills will be more attractive to prospective buyers if they are in working condition.

Commissioner Jack Cashman of the Department of Economic and Community Development said after talks collapsed that a hazardous waste mess could develop at the mills if the heat is turned off. A “cold shutdown” would likely result in an order to the state Department of Environmental Protection to go to the sites and clean up or stabilize the chemicals, he said.

But Baldacci on Tuesday night said a cold shutdown “is not an option.”

While talks were still in progress earlier in the day, Baldacci said he has heard from 10 or 11 prospective buyers, and he wanted to keep the mills in running order so they are more attractive to those considering purchase.

His spokesman, Lee Umphrey, said the economic development department had arranged for some of the possible buyers to see the plants, one as early as Tuesday night.

The two mills, Lincoln Pulp and Paper and Eastern Fine Paper, together employed 750 people before they shut down in mid-January. Eastern Pulp had been under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection from creditors since September 2000.

Last week, U.S. Bankruptcy Chief Judge James Haines converted Eastern’s bankruptcy status to Chapter 7, meaning the company’s assets can be sold to satisfy creditors.

The judge started the liquidation process after a deal aimed at keeping the mills warm and in shape for a restart fell through.

“To me, it should never have gone to Chapter Seven,” Baldacci said. “Liquidation is not an option as far as I’m concerned.”

AP-ES-02-10-04 1845EST