Tolko is currently in the commissioning portion of its start-up plan at its Lakeview Division sawmill in Williams Lake.
“We’ve strategically scheduled all of our machine centers for commissioning based on area related impacts,” said communications advisor Janice Lockyer.
“Our primary focus for our people at this time is on indoctrinations and safety reviews. As the machine centers come back online, we are scheduling operators for familiarization and training to ensure the safe and efficient operation of the new equipment. “
The sawmill has been closed since November 2017 after it was heavily damaged due to a fire.
“We are making sure that each employee is being scheduled in line with the commissioning so that they have the training and experience they require to operate the equipment safely when we restart,” Lockyer said.
“We want to ask all employees in the community to make sure their correct address is on file with the mill as we require it for the recall process. If an employee needs to update their information or isn’t sure their records are accurate, they can contact the mill directly to up-to-date their information.”
City of Williams Lake Senior Building Inspector, Gary Deane said Monday the City was expecting to give Tolko temporary operating approval for about 75 percent of the mill.
“They’ll be doing commissioning right now. You’ll be hearing equipment firing up as they go through and do dry runs through the mill, but hopefully they’ll be starting up here on Wednesday we’ll be giving them a provisional occupancy and they expect to be totally done within four months,” Deane said.
“It’s amazing how much work they’ve got done in nine months. When the time is all said and done they’re going to be about a year from when the time they started construction, not necessarily from the time the mill burned down.”
Lockyer said Tolko cannot comment on where they are at this point as the commissioning process is very fluid.
“We’re excited to have a new mill and looking forward to returning to full operations.”