Temporary shutdown announced at Lewiston’s Clearwater Paper mill

The cold snap gripping the region is partially responsible for a temporary suspension of operations at Clearwater Paper in Lewiston, the company announced Monday.

The company took the step “due to uncertainty in natural gas supply and damage caused by extreme cold weather,” according to a news release issued by Clearwater Paper.

The business is restarting equipment and production at the plant as weather conditions permit and will provide an update on the anticipated impact of the outage in the future.

The news release didn’t provide details about the length of the suspension, the reasons for the uncertainty in natural gas supply or the extent of the damage.

Snow blanketed Lewiston on Thursday and temperatures plummeted. The high in Lewiston on Sunday was 1 degree above zero.

“We are focused on the safety of our employees and protecting our assets during this period of extremely cold temperatures in the region,” said Clearwater Paper President and CEO Arsen Kitch in the news release.

“We are in the process of repairing equipment and resuming our overall operations,” he said.

Clearwater Paper is one of the largest employers in Lewiston, where it has its biggest manufacturing site. It is the only place where it makes pulp, tissue and paperboard.

The tissue is used for store-brand toilet paper, paper napkins, paper towels and facial tissue. The paperboard is turned into packaging for food, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, as well as paper dishware.