Businesses in the Port Hawkesbury area remain optimistic that a $700-million liquefied natural gas plant will be built despite delays this year.

Anadarko Petroleum Corp. announced Wednesday that it's scaling back plans at the Bear Head site while it looks for a supply of gas. Construction on the two storage tanks will not go ahead this summer as scheduled.




"Any kind of a slowdown is disappointing and certainly in the Strait area right now we don't need another slowdown or shortage of work," said Sean Reid, owner of Mulgrave Machine Works, metal fabricators.

Reid has already benefitted from spinoff jobs at Bear Head and was hoping to get more work.

This delay is "simply a glitch," he said, "and we'll overcome it and I think you'll see the Strait area become a vibrant part of the Nova Scotia economy."

The region is already reeling from the lockout at the Stora Enso pulp mill, the biggest employer in the area. More than 600 workers are on the picket line and hundreds of suppliers have lost business.

Port Hawkesbury Mayor Billy Joe MacLean expects construction on the LNG plant will start eventually and bring much-needed jobs to the area.

"Each company has a bump in the road at different times. I have every faith in the fact that they will eventually get there," MacLean said.

Anadarko had originally planned for the LNG terminal to open in 2008.