Evergreen Packaging, a large paper mill located in Canton, NC, must replace its coal-fired boilers with a natural gas system in order to comply with new federal regulations. Since the cost burden is so onerous, Jim Davis (R-Franklin) has introduced a bill that would appropriate $12 million from the state budget to help the large corporation with its new handicap. Currently, Evergreen is not eligible for state assistance because it is not investing at least $65 million in a distressed, local economy over a period of three years. Already, the plant has been promised $2.1 million from the NC Department of Commerce with a 33% match coming from Haywood County.
Saith the Smoky Mountain News:
A study by the American Forest and Paper Association in 2010 warned that the new industrial air pollution limits could threaten nearly 17,000 jobs at pulp and paper mills nation wide — half of those being in the South — and could force 30 mills to close.
