Paper and pulp industry in Dryden, Ontario

The city of Dryden, which is in the Kenora District of Northwestern Ontario, Canada, on Wabigoon Lake—the headwater of the Wabigoon River near the Manitoba border, was ideally located for the pulp-and-paper industry with its abundant hydroelectricity supply from the Wabigoon River and a plentiful supply of wood. The plant is located upstream of White Dog First Nation and Grassy Narrows First Nation. ==History of the Dryden mill (1800s - 1970s)==

In 1909, Charles and Grant Gordon began the construction of a paper mill on the west side of the Wabigoon River, where a paper mill is currently located. The mill's location has some advantages, because it has an abundant electricity supply from the river and a plentiful supply of wood. In 1911, the rights of the timber lease were transferred from the Gordon brothers to the Dryden Timber and Power Company because the building they were constructing burned down in 1910, and they did not have means to complete their project. Dryden Timber and Power Company constructed a new mill and started to operate in 1913; it was the first Kraft pulp mill in Northwestern Ontario. == Mill operations ==

In the 1970s, the plant had a capacity of 350 tons of pulp per day, representing approximately 4% of all wood pulp made in Ontario. Waste water from the wood processing flowed into the Wabigoon River As demand for their products decreased in 2009, hundreds of workers were laid off. ==Environmental disaster==

Dryden Chemicals Ltd., a subsidiary of the British multinational, Reed International, dumped of mercury into the English-Wabigoon River upstream of Grassy Narrows First Nation from 1962 to 1970. This slow poisoning of the water system is considered one of Canada's worst environmental disasters. The English-Wabigoon River served as a source of a food and drinking water and contributed to the local economy through fishing and guiding. By 1970, the river was polluted with chemical waste. This spread to the Winnipeg River and eventually to Lake Winnipeg. Mercury never dissolves and is bioaccumulative. In 2015, a former employee claimed he had participated in further dumping drums of mercury in 1972. Grassy Narrows Chief Simon Frobisher believes this dumping was done at a separate, un-monitored site. Since the mercury poisoning, the Grassy Narrows community "have lived with the consequences of one of the worst cases of environmental poisoning in Canadian history." Company response In 1985, Dryden chemical executives repeatedly insisted that mercury occurred naturally in the local environment, and the mill's effluence was not the only source of mercury in the river. However, fish taken from the area of the mill showed much higher levels of mercury than fish from other areas. Government response The Ontario government warned the First Nation residents to stop eating fish, which is their main staple food, and closed down their commercial fishery in November 1970. Even a 1971 provincial report suggested that the mercury might have occurred naturally because of its chemical property. Public awareness of the problem grew during the 1970s. The federal government paid $4.4 million ($ today) to Grassy Narrows for social service and economic development on July 27, 1984. The federal government has paid more than $9 million for compensation to the First Nations affected by the mercury contamination. Chief Fobister announced that an expert report, which was released on June 6, 2016, had found that the river was "still highly contaminated" and that "it can be cleaned safely". == Domtar Corporation (2007 - 2023) ==

In March 2007, Domtar purchased the Mill from Weyerhaeuser for approximately US$520 million. It has an annual pulp production capacity of 319,000 tonnes in 1 pulp line. Domtar Corporation acquired the mill and became the largest integrated producer of uncoated paper in North America and the second-largest in the world in terms of production capacity, owns a pulp manufacturer in Dryden that produces one pulp product called Northern Bleached Softwood Kraft (NBSK). However, the paper and pulp sector is facing economic deterioration. On April 2, 2009, Domtar Corporation announced that it would idle its Dryden pulp making mills for approximately ten weeks starting April 25, 2009 due to the lack of global demand for pulp. As a result, 230 workers have been off work since the mill closed. However, mill employees working in Dryden began slowly returning to work at Domtar's pulp mill in July 2009. == First Quality (2023-)==

In February 2023, Domtar announced they had entered an agreement to sell Domtar's Dryden pulp mill to First Quality, "a closely held, diversified group of companies manufacturing, selling and distributing branded and private label absorbent hygiene, paper and packaging products into the healthcare, retail and commercial channels." The acquisition was closed in August 2023. ==Notes==