NOVA SCOTIA -- Northern Pulp Nova Scotia Corporation began its annual maintenance shutdown on September 10. The purpose of such a shutdown is to carry out preventative maintenance on non-operating equipment.

The shutdown, an event most industrial facilities undertake, will see the mill's workforce skyrocket from just over 330 to nearly 1,000 workers with tradespeople descending on the Pictou County region. The original shutdown budget of $8-million for the 10 day period has now been increased to just over $10-million, with over half of that covering wages.

"The annual maintenance shutdown is key to ensuring a safe and reliable operation in the year to come. Not many companies have the opportunity to spend a million dollars a day for 10 straight days," states Northern Pulp General Manager Bruce Chapman.

While the shutdown itself will occur over a 10 day period, extra crews have already been on site for the past four weeks and many will remain a week after the mill resumes production on September 20.

To handle the cars that accompany an extra 450 plus people at the Abercrombie Mill site, Northern Pulp has opened up a parking lot at the west end of the mill and hired a bus to transport workers from the parking lot to their work stations.