The Mill --Fifty Years of Pulp and Protest explores the power that a
single industry can wield. For fifty years, the pulp mill near Pictou in
northern Nova Scotia has buoyed the local economy and found support from
governments at all levels. But it has also pulped millions of acres of
forests, spewed millions of tonnes of noxious emissions into the air,
consumed quadrillions of litres of fresh water and then pumped them out
again as toxic effluent into nearby Boat Harbour, and eventually into
the Northumberland Strait.
From the day it began operation in 1967, the mill has fomented protest
and created deep divisions and tensions in northern Nova Scotia. This
story is about people whose livelihoods depend on the pulp mill and who
are willing to live with the "smell of money." It's about people whose
well-being, health, homes, water, air, and businesses have been harmed
by the mill's emissions and effluent. It's about the heartache such
divisions cause and about people who, for the sake of peace, keep their
thoughts about the mill to themselves.
But it's also about hope, giving voice to those who led the successive
groups that have protested and campaigned for a cleaner mill--First
Nations, fishers, doctors, local councillors, tourism operators, artists
and musicians, teachers and woodlot owners. Their personal stories are
interwoven into a historical arc that traces the mill's origins and the
persistent environmental and social problems it causes to this day.
Baxter weaves a rich tapestry of storytelling, relevant to everyone who
is concerned about how we can start to renegotiate the relationship
between economy, jobs, and profits on one hand, and human well-being,
health, and the environment on the other. The Mill tells a local story
with global relevance and appeal.
