VANCOUVER — A British Columbia Supreme Court judge has approved a settlement agreement between the owners of the Northern Pulp mill and the Nova Scotia government.

The agreement is the result of a court-ordered mediation that began in April 2022 as part of the company’s creditor protection proceedings.

Under the deal approved during a hearing today by Justice Shelley Fitzpatrick, mill owner Paper Excellence has withdrawn a $450-million lawsuit against the province and will abandon plans to reopen its idled Pictou County, N.S., operation.

The B.C.-based company has also agreed to begin a feasibility study for a potential new kraft pulp mill near Liverpool, N.S.

Northern Pulp closed mill operations in 2020 after it failed to meet the province’s environmental requirements for a new effluent treatment plant.

The Liberal government at the time said the mill could no longer dump its waste into Boat Harbour near the Pictou Landing First Nation, after the company had done so for decades.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 31, 2024

The Canadian Press