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Thursday was Maine’s worst day for reported coronavirus deaths. All five of the people who died were veterans and residents at the Maine Veterans’ Home in Scarborough. It was a particularly grim day in a string of grim days.
There have been a lot of bad days as of late, and a lot of bad news. It may sound trite, but even through the trials and tragedy of a global pandemic, it’s important to remember that good things are happening every day. On some days, there might even be miracles.
[Our COVID-19 tracker contains the most recent information on Maine cases by county]
Last Wednesday was a miraculous day in Jay, with a large explosion at the Androscoggin Paper Mill. Video taken from outside the mill quickly circulated online, and left little doubt that this was a serious accident. It seemed inevitable that there would be injuries, if not deaths.
And yet, somehow, no one was injured in the massive blast.
“It’s nothing short of a miracle,” Androscoggin Mill spokeswoman Roxie Lassetter said about the lack of injuries at a press briefing later that day.
This all happened just days after Larry Lord, a hero of last year’s explosion in nearby Farmington, returned to his home in Jay after months of hospitalization and rehabilitation.
“After Farmington seven months ago, we were fearing the worst today,” said Joel Davis, a sergeant from the state fire marshal’s office. “But by the grace of God it turned out much differently.”
The lack of injuries was miraculous; there’s no doubt about it. But the explosion did cause respiratory distress for some on site. It also caused serious worry about economic distress for the region and for Maine’s forest economy generally.
With 500 workers, the mill is Franklin County’s second largest employer. Valued at $325 million, it’s responsible for approximately half of Jay’s property tax base. And it plays an important role in Maine’s interconnected forest products economy, in part because it would typically buy wood chips from loggers and sawmills for its pulping operation.
The blast, and the initial uncertainty about when and how the mill could resume operations, raised alarm bells about potentially “devastating” impact for the industry. And rightly so. But only a week later, mill owner Pixelle Specialty Solutions of Pennsylvania has two of the paper machines back up and running.
And that is happening, interestingly enough, with the help of competitors.
As the BDN reported Thursday, competing companies Sappi and ND Paper are supplying or negotiating to supply the Androscoggin Mill with the pulp needed to keep its papermaking operations going.
“We are in discussions to support Pixelle,” ND Paper spokesperson Brian Boland said. “We do have pulp available to sell and we are happy to supply them.”
To be clear, it’s not as if the pulp is being given away for free. But there is still a great message here of competitors working together to support each other, and support a community and an entire industry at the same time. We need that sort of cooperation now more than ever.
The COVID-19 outbreak is testing all sorts of things: the health care system, political leaders’ ability to act quickly and thoughtfully, our collective nerves, just to name a few. It’s also testing our willingness to consider what’s right, not only what’s right for ourselves. That doesn’t mean self-sacrifice, but it can mean meeting other people half way.
Watch: Nirav Shah thanks everyday Mainers for staying inside
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