Northern Pulp receives remaining $13.7M from defunct Jobs Fund

The Nova Scotia government is making its final $13.7-million disbursement toNorthern Pulp under a provincial funding program that no longer exists.

In April 2013, the previous NDP government granted the Pictou Countypulp and paper mill loans and incentivesworth $21.7 millionunder the now defunct Nova Scotia Jobs Fund.According to the current Liberal government, the money was aimed to help the company improve air quality and efficiency.

The final disbursement of that money was announced Friday, andincludes $12 million for a precipitator and $1.7 million for natural gas conversion. The government says Northern Pulp has met purchasing and commissioning conditions laid out by the agreement.

This comes even as Northern Pulp and the province are in a battle over the mill's industrial approval. The company has taken the government to court, arguing new environmental conditions are virtually impossible to meet.

The mill had also beengranted money under two previous Jobs Fund agreements: $15 million for working capital in 2009 and $75 million for land purchase in 2010.

According to the province, all money promised to the mill under the previous Jobs Fund agreement totalling $111.7 million hasnow been fully dispersed.