The Catalyst Crofton Paper Excellence mill is in the midst of a month-long curtailment, affecting about 450 total employees from the Public and Private Workers of Canada Local 2 and from Unifor Local 1132.

Paper Excellence announced in May it would temporarily curtail its Crofton facility for 30 days starting June 30 and lasting until July 31 when full crews are due to return.

鈥漈he downtime will result in associated reduced production of pulp and paper,鈥� noted Graham Kissack, Paper Excellence Canada鈥檚 vice president of environment, health, safety and communications. 鈥淔urther, Paper Excellence recognizes that it may be necessary to make additional adjustments to each of its operations under these currently straining economic conditions.

鈥淔or our employees, we recognize your outstanding efforts over the past year to improve Crofton鈥檚 reliability. This decision did not come easily and we know the hardship that this downtime will cause you. We commit to making every effort to minimize the downtime鈥檚 impact on our team.鈥�

Some maintenance work has been continuing at the mill while employees with vacation time owing have opted to use it to minimize the impacts of the shutdown.

Kissack added market conditions are continuing to be monitored and a decision will be made in the next couple of weeks about the scheduled restart.

The issue of the Cowichan River that feeds the mill is also a concern for the company during these hot and dry summers.

鈥淲e also treat that situation very seriously and work very closely with the provincial government, federal government, Cowichan Tribes and environmental stakeholders, professionals who monitor the river,鈥� noted Kissack. 鈥淲e鈥檙e well aware of this.鈥�

With Vancouver Island currently in Drought Level 5 and the mill curtailed the last two weeks, 鈥渢he water we would have used is being left in the river,鈥� he indicated.

Only about 20 per cent of the normal amount of water is being used for such things as waste water treatment.

However, water is only diverted for the mill near the end of the river and doesn鈥檛 affect the levels upstream.

don.bodger@chemainusvalleycourier.ca
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