The province of Newfoundland and Labrador has asked the Quebec Superior Court for access to AbitibiBowater's data room in order to keep tabs on its financial health as a creditor.

The province said it is being "unfairly discriminated" by AbitibiBowater's refusal to afford it access to information that allows stakeholders and creditors to assess the ongoing condition of Abitibi's business.

Newfoundland and Labrador feel that they are owed a reimbursement of the $24 million they spent to cover AbitibiBowater by paying the severance and termination expenses to former AbitibiBowater employees in the province.

Newfoundland also said Abitibi has incurred environmental obligations resulting from its activities that spanned several decades.

For example, AbitibiBowater's plans to spend more than $2 million on remediation work at a mine in Buchans were disrupted by its filing for bankruptcy protection last April. Residents of the small central Newfoundland community were told to get blood tests to find out if they've been poisoned by lead.

AbitibiBowater still claims that the province owes them more than $300 million resulting from the expropriation of their assets in Grand Falls-Windsor.

Sources:
Newfoundland and Labrador asks court to order access to AbitibiBowater data room (Canadian Press)
AbitibiBowater accuses Newfoundland of hypocrisy (Toronto Star)