Auction pending at shuttered Verso mill site

Examining damage
Workers examine the damage after a Verso Paper plant fire in Sartell, Minn., in a file photo from May 31, 2012.
MPR Photo/Jeffrey Thompson

The contents of the damaged Verso Paper Mill in Sartell will be auctioned off this week.

The mill has been shut down since Memorial Day a year ago when an explosion killed one person and destroyed much of the facility.

The auction in the central Minnesota town begins Tuesday and runs through Wednesday.

The sale will take place at the site and online, said Jeff McGlin, general manager for AIM Development.

"AIM Development purchased the entire facility and all the assets inside," he said, referring to a deal in January, "and this is the method that we're using early on in the project to liquidate some of these paper machinery-related processes and equipment."

In all, about 3,100 items in the mill will be sold to the highest bidders, he said, including maintenance tools, drill presses, lathes, grinders, overhead cranes, hand tools, office equipment, forklifts, a dump truck and log loading equipment.

Demolition on the mill will start later this summer.

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