A Bangor-based trucking, warehousing and freight company has taken over 50,000 square feet of warehouse space at the former Great Northern Paper mill in East Millinocket, making it the latest tenant at the former mill site, which has undergone staggered redevelopment in recent years.
The new East Millinocket site helps Lynch Logistics achieve its long-term goal of gaining more partnerships throughout Maine and eastern Canada. The firm also has locations in Bangor and Auburn.
The East Millinocket paper mill closed for good in 2014 after it had reopened for a 2 ½-year stretch in October 2011 following a previous closure and years of decline. The 2014 closure resulted in 212 job losses. Much of the plant on the 215-acre site was demolished three years later, and the property went through a series of owners until the town of East Millinocket bought it in July 2020.
Standard Biocarbon, a Portland startup that takes wood chips and turns them into a carbon-rich fertilizer substitute called biochar, announced plans to be the first tenant in the defunct mill in February 2021, but later changed its plans and developed its first location in Enfield, Maine Public reported.
In April 2022, a Canadian company set its sights on establishing a biorefinery at the former East Millinocket mill site. Ensyn Fuels Inc. looks to produce low-carbon liquid heating fuel from wood chips at the site of the former mill within the next two years. The “liquid wood” is intended to be a cleaner alternative to natural gas.
Lynch Logistics’ new 50,000-square-foot heated warehouse brings the company’s total storage capacity to over 400,000 square feet. The warehouse also has eight truck dock doors, making it accessible to tractor-trailers, and a rail siding that the company hopes to reopen in the future to provide rail access from the property.