Last week, workers gathered outside Pactiv Evergreen鈥檚 Canton paper mill to hear one final blast from the steam whistle. After more than 115 years, the mill in the small Western North Carolina mountain town is shutting down.
On May 24, Gail Mull listened to that lonesome whistle blow for the last time.
鈥淚鈥榤 75 years old," Mull said. "I鈥檝e heard this whistle blow every day of my life.鈥�
Mull currently serves as secretary for the United Steelworkers Union, and as mayor pro tem of the Town of Canton. She retired from the mill, known to locals as 鈥淓vergreen Packaging,鈥� after 30 years.
We fought the war and held the blue-collar line for as long as we could, but now we have fallen.Canton Mayor Zeb Smathers
鈥淢y father worked there. Two brothers retired from there, my sister and her husband retired from there, and I have a son who works there now," she said. "This is all we have ever known. My father鈥檚 salary sent us to college, educated us, all nine children. This is more than just a mill, it is what we depended on for survival.鈥�
On March 6, officials from Pactiv that the mill, along with approximately a thousand jobs, would soon be gone. The company cited the cost of upgrading the century-old facility, as well as unfavorable market conditions 鈥� a narrative not new to American manufacturing.
鈥淲e fought the war and held the blue-collar line for as long as we could, but now we have fallen,鈥� said Canton Mayor Zeb Smathers.
Smathers is now left to deal with the economic fallout. Less than two years ago, deadly flooding killed six and caused tens of millions of dollars in damages to town facilities.
Mill's closure will impact the local economy for decades
The full effects of the mill鈥檚 closing on the local economy have yet to be fully realized, but will likely reverberate for decades 鈥� especially for local governments. Next year, Canton expects a budget hit of up to $3 million, against a general fund of around $11 million.
鈥淥ur first job is the safety and welfare of our citizens," Smathers said. "That's water. That's fire. That's police. That's clean and safe roads. The closing of Evergreen Packaging, as much as it is heartbreaking to our spirit, it tremendously affects our ability to provide those services.鈥�
Concerns over stock sales by top execs, a property tax break sought by Pactiv, and an unfolding health care coverage crisis add to the sense of betrayal felt by workers.
Attorney General Josh Stein and Gov. Roy Cooper say Pactiv of a $12 million grant, and they want the money back.
The mill predates the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency by more than 60 years, so nobody really knows what may be lurking on the site. The mill also treats the Town of Canton鈥檚 wastewater. Both could be obstacles in the way of getting the 185-acre parcel back into productive use.
鈥淭he first thing that has to happen is we need to make sure that this town's wastewater treatment issues are taken care of," Cooper said in Canton last week. "And we know that that is still a part of this. Secondly, we need to make sure that the environmental issues that we know are there are taken care of and that this company has the responsibility to do it.鈥�
The beginning of a new era
Haywood County鈥檚 legislators, Sen. Kevin Corbin and Rep. Mark Pless, have both made substantial asks of the General Assembly to keep Mayor Smathers鈥� government afloat, for now.
鈥淲e will have, I'm sure, money from the state for a while, but I will not live off the government or be satisfied with that," Smathers said. "We have to immediately rebuild our economy. As much as we talk about how this affects us in a spiritual sense, in our soul, we have to find a way to maintain the services of the town.鈥�
After Gail Mull heard that whistle blow for the last time, sitting on a bench in Sorrells Park, she reflected on the town鈥檚 gritty character as area churches tolled their bells 115 times 鈥� once for each year the mill was in operation.
鈥淭his is the beginning of a new era," Mull said. "It may not be the path that we would have chosen. It鈥檚 going to be a different path. I think this is our opportunity to make Canton go in another direction, a different direction, a better direction. We have to look at it that way. We cannot be gloom and doom 鈥� we鈥檝e got to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and start over.鈥�
The last day of work for many mill employees will be June 9.
