Hi Pulseline, concerning the Texon Paper Co closing in Russell: In 2011, the Russell Planning Board decided that homeowners could only burn wood pellets made from used pallets! They restricted industry from burning these pallets, because they had been told that pesticide was used to kill insects like Ash Borers in pallets. However, it was found out that in 2010, that federal law demanded that heat be used to kill insect borers and pesticides were no longer used in treating pallets! Mark Reardon, Texon’s General Manager, contacted each of our select board and told them that Texon wanted to burn pallets. This was because they would be prevented by federal law in 2014 from burning #6 fuel oil! Mr. Reardon repeated this at a Russell Select Board meeting and in a letter printed in The Westfield News and said that this might cause his company to become unprofitable. However, some of our select board members said that it would be too costly for Texon to move out of town and Mr. Reardon was just bluffing! Maybe Texon’s move to China was in the cards as thousands of other American companies have outsourced American jobs to countries that have cheap labor! If this does not stop real soon there will be no one employed to have money to buy Chinese goods! Thirty-six jobs will leave Russell December 21,2012!
