Why, in the press release, has Irving already hired additional employees for the proposed project, from 40 employees to 105, when it said project has not yet been finalized and fully approved?

In the update posted on hammondriverholdings.com, the job numbers referred to in the question are employees hired at Atlantic Wallboard from 2007-2018. This proposed quarry will specifically create 10-15 future jobs, which have not yet been filled. Prior to proceeding with “operational” activities, such as hiring employees and purchasing equipment for the project, we will wait until final approval from both the Department of Environment and the Department of Energy is received.