TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2011
VOL. 20 NO. 131
BERLIN, N.H.
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752-5858
Mill converts to natural gas BY BARBARA TETREAULT THE BERLIN DAILY SUN
GORHAM -The Gorham Paper and Tissue paper mill met a major milestone last week when it switched over to natural gas to operate its three paper machines. At the same time, the company is still going forward with plans to install a new tissue machine in the facility. Mill Manager Willis Blevins said the boiler was started up on natural gas at 11 a.m. Thursday and by 8 p.m. it was running entirely on natural gas. Blevins said the company actually started Wednesday to switch the boiler over from No. 6 fuel oil to the lower cost natural gas. He said the switch over required some minor tweaking of the new software installed for the burners and controls on the boiler. The switch over to natural gas is expected to save
the company as much at $1 million a month in energy costs and Blevins said it will allow the mill to be more aggressive and competitive in pursuing orders. “I feel like now we have an opportunity to succeed that we didn’t have before,” he said. Blevins said the mill has been looking at an alternative fuel source for its boiler for about five years. While owned by Fraser Papers, he said the mill looked at the possibility of a biomass boiler. About three years ago the company began planning to tap into the Portland National Gas Transmission System pipeline now owned by TransCanada. A $4.8 million project was put together that called for the Androscoggin Valley Regional Refuse Disposal District to cover the cost of bringing both natural and landfill gas to the mill with an assortment of public see MILL page 11
Few attend redistricting hearing in Coos County BY BARBARA TETREAULT THE BERLIN DAILY SUN
The calendar said Halloween and Mother Nature played a trick by delivering a dump of snow for the ghoulist holiday. Halloween decorations throughout the city worn a layer of fresh snow or in one case the snow was turned into a giant pumpkin. (BARBARA TETREAULT PHOTOS). BANKRUPTCY or CRIMINAL DEFENSE Free InitialM eeting
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LANCASTER -- In drawing up new state House districts to reflect the 2010 U.S. Census figures, public sentiment so far has been overwhelmingly in favor of smaller voting districts. But the chair of the N.H. Special Committee on Redistricting last week said federal law will make that difficult to achieve. Chairman Rep. Paul Mirski, (R-Enfield Center), said federal principal mandates one-person, one vote - meaning districts must
be drawn so that everyone’s vote carries the same weight. The state Constitution, however, was amended in 2006 to allow towns and cities to elect their own representative or representatives if possible. Voters were unhappy with the 2002 state Supreme Court decision that created large multi-town districts. The House’s legal counsel, Edward Mosca, last week warned that federal constitutional principal takes precedence over the state constitution. He said the legislature will see HEARING page 6
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