ELGIN — Despite the presence of familiar rumors, Elgin residents received a jolt this week when they learned their town’s 56-year-old Boise Cascade plywood plant soon could close.

Boise Cascade announced in a news release Wednesday, Oct. 21, that it may reduce employee hours or close the Elgin plant temporarily beginning Jan. 1, 2021. The potential changes are due to a lack of logs because of wildfires as well as an order from the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality regarding the use of wastewater at the Elgin facility. The plant employs 230 people.

“It could be scary for a little town. I don’t know what is going to happen. A lot of people depend on it,” said Felicity Hicks, 26, who works at Elgin Auto Parts.

Hicks, who grew up in Elgin, said there was talk around town that the plywood plant would close.

“I don’t think people saw it coming this fast,” added Hicks, whose father and grandfather have worked at the plywood plant.

Kim VanCleave, the Elgin School District’s food service supervisor, echoed this sentiment.

“It is sad. (The plant) is so important to a lot of people,” she said. “Half the town (it seems) have worked there.”

Boise Cascade opened its Elgin mill on July 16, 1964. It employed 270 people during its initial year, according to Observer archives.

VanCleave herself has worked at the plywood plant. She said she worked a graveyard shift for a year.

Brad Warren, who grew up in Elgin and now lives in Bend, said he fears if the plywood plant does close in January, it will mark a permanent end.

“I think if they shut down the local plant, it won’t be reopened,” said Warren, who was visiting Elgin on Thursday.

Warren said his father worked at the Boise Cascade plant for 31 years. He is worried that many people who are employed at the plant now may have to move out of the community to find work.

Suzannah Moore-Hemann, executive director of the Union County Chamber of Commerce, also is highly concerned about the announcement of a possible closure.

“I was shocked and saddened when I heard about it,” said Moore-Hemann. “Boise Cascade is a great supporter of the community.”

She said the impact of the job losses would be compounded by the timing of possible layoffs, which could occur in the heart of the winter season when heating bills are the highest.

In years past, a large percentage of the Elgin plant’s employees had school-age sons and daughters, according to Dianne Greif, superintendent of the Elgin School District.

“Fifteen to 20 years ago it was at least one third. Today it is much less,” she said.

The superintendent said if the plywood plant closes, the school district will do everything it can to support the students’ families affected by the shutdown, including taking steps to make sure the families receive all the government and community services available to them. The educator said she would work closely with Union County CARE Coordinator Sherlyn Roberts, whom Greif credits with having a remarkable knowledge of how to access services for families who need to assistance.

Greif, who grew up in Elgin, said rumors that the plywood plant was closing have circulated for years.

“It seems like forever that people have been saying it would be shut down,” she said.

Kathy Rysdam, who works at Elgin Electric, said such rumors have come and gone, and they always turned out to be false.

“I hope we survive this time also,” Rysdam said, adding that she is “optimistic that they can all sit down and work something out to keep it open.”

Saving the plywood plant would boost not only Elgin but all of Union County, according to Elgin Mayor Allan Duffy, who noted the Boise Cascade employees live throughout the Grande Ronde Valley.

“A closure would have an impact all over the county,” Duffy said. “It is not just an Elgin issue — it is a county-wide issue.”

Duffy said he is working with state Sen. Bill Hansell, R-Athena, and state Rep. Greg Barreto, R-Cove, in the effort to prevent the mill shutdown. He said he hopes they can assist in resolving the DEQ issue.

“Boise Cascade is a major employer,” Duffy said. “Everybody is concerned about the jobs (that could be lost).”

The mayor said Boise Cascade is a company that has a history of reaching out to the community.

“It is a great community partner,” he said.

Much of the problem the Elgin plant faces is connected to an order from the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality regarding the use of wastewater in the Elgin facility. Boise Cascade filed a lawsuit in August over the issue. It did so after the DEQ told Boise Cascade to limit its water use in Elgin due to the presence of dioxins, which are toxic chemical compounds that are harmful to health.

Hansell said the water in question is from runoffs and is used to sprinkle logs to prevent them from cracking. He said dioxins are naturally occurring and the levels increase when there are fires. Hansell said fires in the Elgin area in recent years may be why dioxin levels are up in the water.

The DEQ granted a permit in 2018 for use of water at the Elgin plant. Boise Cascade spokesperson Lisa Chapman said there is no evidence that use of the water, as the permit allows, has caused or contributed to an environmental or human health hazard. She said samples from the water contain low levels of dioxins.

Boise Cascade and the DEQ are now in negotiations to resolve this issue. Hansell said Barreto “has been a key player” in helping conduct the negotiations, and representatives from both parties have said negotiations are going well.

“I’m actually fairly optimistic,” Hansell said, regarding the two sides reaching a resolution.