BANGOR DAILY NEWS • April 15, 2020
Any long-term shutdown of the Androscoggin Mill after a massive Wednesday explosion would have a long-lasting ripple effect on Maine’s forest economy at a time when the coronavirus outbreak is upsetting wood markets. The Androscoggin Mill is a key cog in Maine’s long-embattled paper industry, which saw five mills close between 2014 and 2016 but has leveled off since then in a stronger economy. It has 500 workers as Franklin County’s second-largest employer and makes up roughly half of Jay’s property tax base. The pulp component makes it an outsized part of Maine’s forest products industry. It buys wood chips from sawmills and loggers, giving them an important outlet for a byproduct that could otherwise be burned or landfilled.