The company that was hoping to build a $1.5 billion iron processing plant in northern New Brunswick says it has officially put the project on hold. Maritime Iron responded by proposing to buy the power plant, an idea Higgs immediately dismissed. Purchasing the Belledune generating station was one of multiple options Maritime Iron considered in hopes of reviving the project. It has "no discussion" about how effluent from the iron plant would affect the nearby Bay of Chaleur and "very little information" on how wastewater would be treated. The Higgs government has been negotiating with the federal government for a so-called equivalency agreement that would let NB Power operate the Belledune power plant past 2030.

Source: CBC News June 19, 2020 18:22 UTC