December 11 – CANTON – If Spirtas Worldwide and Two Banks, LLC (the company formed by Spirtas to purchase the Canton properties) are successful in their bid to purchase the Canton mill site from Pactiv Evergreen, the city will have a surer path forward , especially when it comes to wastewater treatment.
As it stands, Pactiv Evergreen has communicated its intention to the NC Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to cease treating Canton’s municipal wastewater by April 2025 or when the new owner takes over, whichever happens. occurs first.
DEQ has not committed to intervening, leaving the thorny question of what will happen on April 1 to city leaders, who have been silent on the subject.
In a recent interview, Eric Spirtas confirmed his desire to purchase the Canton mill and associated properties. He shared the plans he had made to renovate and operate the wastewater treatment plant, saying it would be a project carried out in collaboration with the municipal authorities.
“Two Banks was ready and still is ready to run that factory for the city and with the city,” Spirtas said. “We were ready, with the permits and transfers in order. I am happy to be able to support Canton with the wastewater treatment.”
Part of his plan includes adapting the treatment facility over time.
“My goal is to immediately work on reducing costs, making it more efficient and economical to use,” he said.
Spirtas said he has been working closely with an engineering firm to ensure changes can be implemented quickly.
“We are going in with our eyes wide open and will drive forward as a team,” he said. “In every sector there are ways to work more efficiently. It’s about working hand in hand with the city and the agencies and finding a way to make this state-of-the-art. That’s the goal.”
An obstacle
Moving forward with the wastewater treatment plan will require resolving a lawsuit filed by Pactiv Evergreen to force the buyers to honor an “as-is, where-is” clause in the agreement.
Two Banks/Spirtas Worldwide claims that the sale could not be completed on time because it was not possible to obtain the insurance that was a condition of the agreement. That’s because acceptance was suspended in the wake of Tropical Storm Helene.
Rather than allow the buyer to inspect the property after Helene’s massive flood or provide insurance documents that Two Banks said were required in the agreement, Pactiv filed a lawsuit the next day.
In it, Pactiv claimed that the agreement was final when it was signed, and not on the closing date of the property, a Spirtas said it is open-ended through December.
Two banks have filed a countersuit alleging that the seller acted fraudulently and breached the contract by failing to obtain insurance, an issue that Pactiv Evergreen failed to address.
Two banks also claimed there were unanswered questions about the agreement that Pactiv had not addressed, including information from the city of Canton announcing that it would not pay for wastewater treatment until April 2025, when the current agreement with Pactiv expires.
Pactiv alleged that Two Banks’ countersuit was based on “baseless claims to achieve through litigation what they could not negotiate,” calling the lawsuits a “transparent attempt to rewrite the agreement.”
Although a Delaware court ruled that the case would go to trial, Spirtas hopes that it will not come to that and that the ongoing negotiations will be fruitful.
“I hope our discussions will lead to a settlement – a meeting of the minds. We won’t get that without giving,” Spirtas said. “I am hopeful that the results of the hearing and continued communication will resolve this.”
