Worker:Paper Plant Closed

Update

Reposted from 2/26/05

Saturday, February 26, 2005

Worker: paper plant closed

Nika CarlsonSentinel Staff

WINCHESTER — In a strikingly familiar story, Atlantic Paper and Foil, a Winchester tissue plant, temporarily closed its doors Friday, leaving more than 70 people without a job, a worker said.
Company officials could not be reached for comment, but the worker said officials announced they plan on reopening the plant in two to six months.

The closure was news to Winchester Selectman Gustave A. Ruth, who said the company informed Winchester officials several weeks ago that the company was going through bankruptcy proceedings.
According to the worker, who didn’t want his name used, company officials want to upgrade the more than half-century old equipment and improve production at the mill.

Atlantic Paper and Foil is a family-owned company based out of Hauppauge, N.Y., with other locations in New York and Georgia. The Winchester plant was one of its smaller locations.
The situation at Atlantic Paper and Foil closely mirrors that of the plant’s former owners.
Atlantic Paper bought the plant in 2003, after it had lain dormant for several years.

The mill last closed in July 2001. Then-owners American Tissue Inc., said they were

(Fixed)This lagoon issues was me. NH is very weak regulator wise. I hounded the NHDES and politicians (Gov Shaheen) beginning in around 1999. The NHDES totally ignored my first complaint. I kept documenting huge plumbs of pollution heading towards my town and reported it. Got the Keene Sentinel to write an an article on it. Got them on falsified pollution reports and severe EPA poor oversight of the state regular. Identified shortcoming in the regs with  the EPA in small and medium size polluters like this. It was all political fraud in the Clinton era and it was systemic in the NH for decades. Eventually though my hounding, the NH governor, she tasked our Attorney General to take a deep look into this corrupt company. Because of the investigation, then a bank (BOA) made a fraud complaint. We then were off to the races. Put about ten thousand employees out of work and put severe hardship on towns laying off employees and cops.

(Actually BOA later bought out the bankrupt first bank who made the loans and they made the complaint to AG and feds. I believe the loan bank made complaint, then went bankrupt. The NHDES told me in veiled way in the beginning, these are really bad guys. I said bs, make them stop polluting right now)  

going to fix leaky lagoons where wastewater from the plant was leaking into the Ashuelot River.

The mill was never reopened, and American Tissue Inc. declared bankruptcy that same year.
Like Atlantic Paper, the company was based out of Hauppauge, N.Y., though the two firms are unconnected, said Atlantic’s executive vice president in 2003. However, the company was founded by a former partner in American Tissue.

In 2003, four former American Tissue executives were charged with defrauding banks and investors of nearly $300 million, leading to the company’s collapse. At that time, the company owed at least $100,000 in back taxes to the town of Winchester.

When Atlantic Paper bought the mill, officials promised to repay those back taxes.
Town records show the company currently owes unrelated back taxes. The town says Atlantic Paper owes $419 for a piece of property, though the company denies owning the land, Ruth said.

Town officials lobbied hard to bring Atlantic Paper to town, even winning a $700,000 federal grant to help the company buy the mill.

That grant was funneled to Atlantic Paper as a loan through the Monadnock Economic Development Corp. Winchester is not responsible if the company defaults on the loan, Monadnock Economic Development President John G. Dugan said in 2002.

The worker said company officials informed the plant manager just a few days ago that the plant would close. Plans were finalized Thursday, he said.

The worker said management said nothing about severance packages, but said the company promised to pay out any leftover vacation days. They also had unemployment papers readied for workers to fill out, he said.

Many workers were still shocked and angered by the closure, he said.

“There’s a lot of people there that make pretty good money,” he said. “In a week of overtime, I can make $1,000. How are we going to get by that sort of thing? A lot of people got bills to pay, rent to pay, car payments to pay, and kids to take care of. Unemployment might help you get by, but it’s a far cry from what we make.”