The Hurricane Helene bill signed into law by Governor Josh Stein last month doesn’t just contain money for recovery and rebuilding.
It also includes long-sought funding to help the town of Canton build a new wastewater treatment plant.
For decades, the Canton paper mill’s previous owner, Pactiv Evergreen, had handled the town’s wastewater treatment free of charge.
That arrangement ended this year, when the new owner, Spirtas Worldwide, purchased the site. Now the town pays $140,000 a month to Spirtas for wastewater treatment.
But that could soon change, thanks to $16 million in funding included in the latest Helene bill.
In an interview with BPR Monday, Canton Mayor Zeb Smathers said the money will allow the town to purchase and redevelop the west side of the property, which contains the wastewater treatment plant.
“Obviously, we’re very excited,” Smathers said. “We have been working on this for the last several years because we knew in time that … the mill would not treat our wastewater. And so, we’ve been working not just with the new owners but our friends in Raleigh for a solution. And we were able to deliver on that just last week.”
The town intends to purchase the site for $14 million. After, $38 million in previously allocated funds will also go toward the construction of the new plant.
Smathers said the property contains more than 150,000 square feet of warehouse space that the town hopes will attract potential employers. The town has been struggling after the closure of the Pactiv Evergreen paper mill in 2023.
“It has access to rail. It has access to I-40. And we want our next chapter to begin with exactly where it left off, and that is with manufacturing,” he said. “So, it is an amazing space that we will own. We will be able to control our own destiny. And it is our intent to bring manufacturing jobs.”
The warehouse space didn’t flood during Helene, but the wastewater treatment plant did. Smathers said that’s part of the reason why it needs to be replaced.
“Our goal is to shrink that down, retrofit it and we will build a new wastewater treatment plant behind it that will be placed outside the flood zone,” he said. “And our hope is that we can save money and time.”
The purchase will likely take place in the next few months after due diligence. The construction of the new plant could take as long as seven years. In the meantime, the town will make renovations to the old plant to continue using it, Smathers said.
“We’re very appreciative,” he said. “This really solves the last pieces of a larger puzzle that I feel now we can focus on other issues, especially attracting economic growth.”
