TERRACE, B.C. — Today is the deadline for Mercer Intl. to buy troubled Skeena Cellulose, but truckers still hoping to salvage some of the money they’re owed may have to wait longer for answers.

If the deal isn’t done today, TD Bank may apply to the court to lift creditor protection and petition the company into bankruptcy.

Some trucking companies and owner/operators are owed up to $30,000 by the company that stopped paying its bills earlier this year as it flirted with financial ruin.

Next Wednesday, monitors Arthur Anderson Inc. are requited to report the status of the company and reveal whether or not a sale could be arranged.

“We’re working towards Wednesday for having a sale agreement with Mercer in place,” says Lucy Stephenson, provincial official overseeing the talks. “Negotiations are continuing.”

Ken Veldman, spokesman for the Terrace Economic Development Authority, told local media that “I don’t think anybody expects this thing to reach any kind of conclusion until literally the last second.”

There is a chance the community may but into the company, at a cost of up to $20 million.