Northern Pulp intends to pitch a redesigned effluent treatment plant early in the New Year.  The Pictou County kraft pulp mill idled in January in order to comply with the Boat Harbour Act, which mandated the closure of its effluent treatment plant.  Premier Stephen McNeil refused to extend the Boat Harbour Act to allow the mill to continue operating as it sought environmental approval for its controversial proposed replacement effluent treatment plant.That project, which would have seen a new treatment plant built beside the mill at Abercrombie Point and that would have sent effluent via pipeline into the Northumberland Strait, was opposed by a coalition of fishermen, the Pictou Landing First Nation and local concerned citizens. With the mill shuttered, Northern Pulp entered creditor protection last summer and has been kept afloat by loans from parent company Paper Excellence. Some 280 unionized workers at the mill were layed off. [We respect the copyrights of the source publication – full access to this story may require a subscription]