The prospective buyer of the now-shuttered Pactiv Evergreen Mill in Canton has backed out of the purchase, but the current owner is suing to try to force the sale.
Blue Ridge Paper Products LLC, which owns the mill, filed a lawsuit against Missouri-based Two Banks Development and E.J. Spirtas Group in Delaware’s Court of Chancery Oct 4. Although its principal place of business is in Canton, Blue Ridge Paper Products is a Delaware limited liability company. The lawsuit alleges that the prospective buyers “decided to exploit the weather tragedy” of Tropical Storm Helene and use it as one of several excuses to back out of the planned purchase of the mill.
The Canton pulp and paper mill was established in 1908. Pactiv Evergreen, the parent company of Blue Ridge Paper Products, decided in May 2023 to stop papermaking operations there, but continued to operate a wastewater treatment facility that has served the town of Canton since 1964, as well as a landfill, Lake Logan, and a dam on Lake Logan. Approximately 1,200 workers were laid off when the paper operations were halted.