Two More Oregon Lumber Mills will Shut Down, Latest in String of Closures
Other entities, Wiggins said, have been in conversation with the city and the mill to purchase it, but no deal emerged. He said he is hopeful that a buyer will get the mill up and running again soon.
SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): Two Oregon lumber mills on opposite ends of the state are shutting down, the latest in a long line of closures.
Western Cascade Industries’ mill — which employs 50 people at its 25-year-old site in Toledo — is slated to fully shut down Thursday, according to the Lincoln County Leader.
Employees were informed last week that the mill would be closing at the end of July, General Manager Walt Adams told the Leader. He told the paper the closure resulted from a timber market that has “just kind of been down across the board.”
The closure is a blow to Toledo, a town of about 3,500 on the Yaquina River just east of Newport. Ross Stock, who runs the mill, did not respond to an interview request.
Toledo City Manager Doug Wiggins said the mill was the town’s second-largest employer. Western Cascade’s mill was the last lumber mill remaining of the many that once operated in the town. One paper mill still operates just across the river from Western Cascade’s facility.
Other entities, Wiggins said, have been in conversation with the city and the mill to purchase it, but no deal emerged. He said he is hopeful that a buyer will get the mill up and running again soon.
On the opposite end of the state, the last mill in Grant County announced it would close last week, the Blue Mountain Eagle reported. Malheur Mill — which employs more than 70 — will shut down after it processes and ships its remaining logs.
The mill is located in John Day, a town of about 1,700. It had almost shut down before back in 2012, but intervention from government officials kept it afloat. Grant County’s other sawmill shut down in March.
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, the Oregon Democrat who helped work out a deal to save the mill more than a decade ago, again pledged support this month for finding solutions.
A representative of Malheur Mill directed inquiries to Ochoco Lumber, the mill’s parent company, which did not respond to an interview request.
The mill cited a litany of reasons for the shutdown to the Blue Mountain Eagle, including a “lack of a willing and drug-free workforce,” rising production costs, government regulation and an unfavorable timber market.
Courtesy: www.oregonlive.com