VANDERHOOF OMINECA EXPRESS
Canfor’s Plateau Mill near Vanderhoof is to become more environmentally friendly with the installation of a new energy system later this year.
The new bark-fired energy system, will be replacing the beehive burner currently in use at the mill, as part of recent spate of capital improvement projects announced by Canfor.
The new energy system will burn bark from the exterior of trees and create energy for the running of the mill.
“Plateau will now be using 100 per cent of the log that it harvested - there’s no waste - it’s extremely efficient,” said Dave Lefebvre, a spokesperson for Canfor.
“It’s a great story about environmental sustainability and it’s a great story about reducing cost,” he said.
He added that Canfor are looking to phase out the tier two beehive burners, as seen at Plateau.
Canfor has set aside an allotted $62 million for three projects in B.C. as part of the capital improvement projects.
As well as the new energy system at Plateau, upgrades will also be seen at Polar Mill and the Vavenby mill which was closed down in.
“We’re planning to restart it by the time we finish all of the modifications by the third quarter,” said Lefebvre.
Twenty-four million dollars has been allotted for the upgrading and restarting of Vavenby, while the remainder of the total $62 million will be spent on Polar and Plateau.
“By choosing to invest in these operations, what we’re basically signaling is that these are key operations for Canfor,” said Lefebvre.
“So it should provide some confidence to the local economy in terms of the fact that Canfor is identifying Plateau, Polar and Vavenby as being key operations as we move forward - operations that we’re willing to invest millions of dollars into,” he said.
While the new energy system at Plateau will not increase or reduce employment numbers at the mill, its installation will provide temporary work for 15 people. The system is expected to be up and running by December of this year.