HALIFAX - Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil has rejected a pulp mill's plea for a deadline extension that would have allowed it to continue dumping wastewater near a First Nation after Jan. 31.

Owners of the Northern Pulp mill near Pictou, N.S., have said a government refusal of their request would lead to the facility's closure and the elimination of 300 jobs at the mill and an estimated 2,400 more in the forestry sector.

The company, owned by B.C.-based Paper Excellence, had submitted plans to build a pipeline to pump 85 million litres of treated effluent daily into the Northumberland Strait instead of the lagoons near the Pictou Landing First Nation.

On Thursday, the mill owners repeated their warning that the operation would be shut down unless the deadline, enshrined in 2015 legislation, is extended and the mill is allowed to keep pumping effluent into Boat Harbour.

Former Nova Scotia environment minister Iain Rankin has referred to the toxic mess in the lagoons as one of the worst cases of environmental racism in Canada.