Written by admin on 11 May 2011
“The most frustrating aspect of this is that if the traditional Marathon fibre allocation would have been granted to us as we had asked of the Ministry, the mill deal would be done by now and people would be back to work" Marathon Mayor Rick Dumas
MARATHON , ON –The Town of Marathon is airing its disappointment on the Province with the recent announcement that all of the fibre traditionally allocated to the mill in Marathon has been allocated to a U.S. firm who plans to develop a site an hour east in White River. The Town of Marathon, Township of Manitouwadge and Pic River First Nation originally formed a Joint Venture Company (JVC) to secure the Big Pic Sustainable Forest License in order to ensure that the fibre from the Big Pic forest would remain local and used for local economic benefits. To the complete knowledge of the Ministry of Northern Development Mines & Forestry (MNDMF), the JVC was formed long before Bill 151 (Tenure Reform) and the Wood Supply Competition were launched. To date, over $100,000 has been invested in this venture by the communities.
“We have been engaged, participated and supported the Tenure Reform process from the beginning,” states Mayor Rick Dumas. “Actually, much of the content in Bill 151, as well as the concept for Local Forest Management Corporations, was put forth by our group. We have been one of the only communities to positively support Bill 151 as it has proceeded because we believe that in order to be successful Local Forest Management Corporations have to benefit the local communities.”
The Town of Marathon has been working very diligently with Protocol Biomass Corp., a Toronto-based biomass renewable energy company, to acquire the idled Marathon mill site. Protocol has proposed to invest $100 million into the site to repurpose it into a biomass-based business development with the potential to create 150 direct, local jobs. The facility would require 600,000 m3 of fibre for its proposed business plan.
“The most frustrating aspect of this is that if the traditional Marathon fibre allocation would have been granted to us as we had asked of the Ministry, the mill deal would be done by now and people would be back to work,” further comments Mayor Dumas. “We, along with Protocol, have not asked the government for one cent to make this deal happen. All we have asked for is a nominal amount of fibre that has traditionally been allocated to Marathon. It is extremely discouraging that this process has resulted in some communities being winners and some losers when we have argued adamantly from the start that all communities can be winners if this process is managed correctly.”
Despite the setback, the Town of Marathon and Protocol Biomass Corp. continue to work on securing the necessary fibre intakes to repurpose the Marathon mill site and have asked for detailed fibre information from the Ministry of Northern Development, Mines, and Forestry.
MORE INFO
- OntarioNewsNorth.com spoke with Mayor Dumas Jan 22, 2011 when he was still hopeful in regards to the Joint Community Venture being successful in obtaining a wood supply, CLICK HERE to watch that interview (Skip to 1min58).
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Posted in Chapleau/Wawa/White River/Dubreuilville/Hornepayne, Forestry, Indigenous Affairs, Manitouwadge/Marathon, Municipal, Northern Ontario Economy, Northern Ontario Headlines, Northern Ontario Politics, Provincial, Regional | Comments Off on Marathon Mayor Voices Frustrations with Province Regarding Wood Allocations
