HALIFAX - The Nova Scotia government says it is providing a maximum of $10 million under an agreement with the Northern Pulp mill to help with the cleanup of the site while the mill is in hibernation.

The province says the money provided to the mill's parent company, Paper Excellence, is about half the cost of the work and will pay for removal of the leachate, decommissioning of effluent pipes and cleanup of ditches and aeration basins on the site.

The province owns the pipe that runs from the mill to the now-closed effluent lagoon in Boat Harbour, near the Pictou Landing First Nation.

The pulp mill stopped production on Jan. 31 after the province rejected its request to continue pumping treated effluent into the lagoon.

The province says the company has estimated the total shutdown process will cost about $20 million and is expected to be completed by June 30, 2021.

It says the company's work plan is in line with orders from the minister of environment and needs to be completed before work can begin to remediate Boat Harbour in 2021.