This research has been compiled to the best of our ability from named public sources. If you believe any fact presented here is incorrect or incomplete, please contact safewaterandair@gmail.com so it can be reviewed and corrected.
1. Finch Paper, Glens Falls, New York: Ending Local Pulp Production
The Finch Paper mill in Glens Falls, New York, a facility that has been buying pulp wood from the region's loggers since 1865, announced it will stop making its own pulp from local logs and will transition to buying pulp from suppliers outside the area [1]. Finch has been blending its own pulp with about 20 percent outside purchases; going forward, Finch is likely to source all of its pulp from Canada, or buy market pulp, eliminating the work associated with the 45 to 50 log trucks that arrived at the mill daily [1].
The company said halting pulp production would allow it to focus entirely on paper making and to expand its product offerings [1]. Last year, its parent company, the private equity firm Atlas Holdings, purchased and then took the parent company of Office Depot and Office Max private in a reported billion dollar deal [1]. Hourly employees working in the pulp mill and the associated wood yard, as well as other affected salaried staff, are being offered positions elsewhere in the company, according to Finch, though there is no guarantee about future layoffs [1].
Forestry and Logging Effects
Finch has long claimed a “feet-in-the-forest philosophy” and has required at least 90 percent of its fiber to come from Sustainable Forestry Initiative or Forest Stewardship Council certified sources [1]. Closing the log yard will dramatically affect local logging companies; the vast majority of Adirondack logging operations rely heavily on supplying pulp wood, lower grade wood tree tops, and smaller trees cleared during timber harvests, which makes it economically feasible for loggers to operate [1].
The parent company, Atlas Holdings, also owns Millar Western, an Alberta, Canada based pulp producer that makes the kind of pre-processed pulp sheets Finch said it would be buying in the future [1]. “When Finch transitions to purchased pulp, it will no longer be necessary for the company to purchase large quantities of logs from wood suppliers in the Northeast and New England,” the company said [1]. Finch said it will still purchase wood for use in its much smaller biomass co-generation facility, a process that converts bark, sawdust, and wood scraps into high-pressure steam used to dry paper during production [1].
Finch currently employs about 600 workers [1]. A company spokesperson told the Glens Falls Post Star that the transition will have “the beneficial effect of reducing odors associated with the Finch operation” in and around Glens Falls [1].
History of Finch Paper
Finch Paper was founded in 1865 by Jeremiah Finch, Daniel Finch, and Samuel Pruyn as Finch, Pruyn and Company, a family owned sawmill, lumberyard, and black marble quarry [1]. Finch, Pruyn built a pulp mill in 1905 and transitioned to producing newsprint and wallpaper [1]. In 1965, Finch expanded and modernized, becoming a major producer of high quality, bright white fine papers for printing [1]. After 142 years of local family ownership, the company was acquired by Atlas Holdings and Blue Wolf Capital, who renamed it Finch Paper in 2007 [1].
2. Relevance to This Campaign
This record concerns a different Atlas Holdings owned facility, Finch Paper in Glens Falls, New York, not Port Townsend Paper Company (PTPC), and a different set of circumstances involving regional pulpwood supply economics and the logging industry's reaction [1]. The relevant point for this campaign is narrow: a company spokesperson's own quoted acknowledgment that ending pulp production would have “the beneficial effect of reducing odors associated with the Finch operation” [1].
This corroborates, from within the same parent company's portfolio, that pulp production itself is understood internally as a significant odor source, consistent with this campaign's Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) based framing of hydrogen sulfide and related compounds at PTPC [1].
Sources and Citations
All factual claims in this document are drawn from the following sources, verified during research for this document.
- New York Almanack: "Finch Paper Closing Glens Falls Pulp Mill; Logging Affected," published July 18, 2026, accessed July 22, 2026. Available at: https://www.newyorkalmanack.com/2026/07/finch-paper-glens-falls-pulp-mill/