Demolition of former Maine papermill limited by restraining order

A company with plans to build a biofuel refinery on a former papermill site in East Millinocket, Maine, obtained a temporary restraining order stopping the owner from selling the property to other parties and limiting the demolition at the site, a report by the Portland Press Herald says. 

North American Recovery Management, the Boca Raton, Florida-based company that buys industrial properties, demolishes assets on the site, sells it for scrap and resells the property, owns the mill. The order says the company is allegedly ignoring an agreement to sell the property to EMEP, the biofuel refinery company that plans to use woody biomass to create fuel at the site. According to the report, North American Recovery Management is preparing to accept new offers on the site and continuing its demolition work.

The order also states the ongoing demolition work endangers some buildings on the property EMEP plans to use in its project, the report says.

The order stops North American Recovery Management from selling the property and demolishing any more of the site beyond a land use permit that was issued on Feb. 1.

In early 2011, Katahdin Paper idled the mill. Later in the year, Cate Street Capital, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, purchased the mill and reopened it in October 2011. The mill closed again in February 2014 because of high energy and wood costs.