This is a short post. We have done several stories (including this one and this one) over the past two days about Verso’s decision to shut down the paper mill in Bucksport by the end of the year.
Right now, I don’t have much to add, and there will be plenty of time to examine the impact of all this in the coming weeks and months. One thing I will point out is that, according to Verso’s website, the mill was founded in Bucksport in 1930. I am sure there are very few people, if any, who can remember when there was no paper mill at that bend in the Penobscot River.
What I do have to add is this video, which I put together Thursday evening from audio and video footage I recorded Wednesday during the press conference and subsequent interviews with town officials and a mill employee. All the still photos in the video are from the BDN archives.