Metsä Fibre launches EIA procedure for planned mill

Metsä Fibre on Wednesday launched an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) procedure related to a bioproduct mill planned in Kemi.

Metsä Fibre provided the EIA programme in accordance with the EIA Act to the Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment of Lapland (ELY Centre),said a press release from the company.

The EIA procedure will address the environmental impacts of the bioproduct mill planned for the existing mill site of Metsä Group in Kemi. The results of the EIA will be taken into account in the ongoing mill design and related decisions. No decisions of the bioproduct mill project will be made in the EIA procedure but its goal is to provide information to support decision-making and to increase citizens' information supply and opportunities to participate.

The ELY Centre in Lapland will make the EIA program prepared by Metsä Fibre available to the public for submitting opinions and statements for 30 days.

During the 30 days the evaluation programme can be reviewed on the internet at www.ymparisto.fi/keminbiotuotetehdasYVA and at:Lapland ELY Centre, Kemi city hall,

A public communication and discussion forum will take place on Wednesday 22 May 2019 from 5.30 pm to 8 pm at the Digipolis at Tietokatu 3, Kemi.

The bioproduct mill planned by Metsä Fibre will, if implemented, cost EUR 1.5 billion, and it would be the forest industry's largest investment in Finland. The mill would produce bioproducts and the pulp production capacity would be 1.5 million tonnes per year. The goal is to build the mill in the existing mill site and it would replace the current pulp mill. The final investment decision will be made earliest at the summer 2020 and the bioproduct mill could be operational in the early 2020s.