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May 2, 2012 Vol. 56 Issue 18
Lake Windermere Players return
Best in the province — U18 tryout photos
Page A11
Page A16
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Radium sawmill to reopen
Tired help
Long-rumoured Canfor investment materializes STEVE JESSEL reporter1@invermerevalleyecho.com
Rumours have been flying for months, but on April 26 Canfor confirmed that the Radium Sawmill will reopen later this year. A total of $38.5 million is to be invested in the mill beginning in May 2012, and funding will cover construction of a new planer facility, the installation of a biomass energy system and modifications to the existing sawmill. The mill is expected to reopen sometime in the fall or winter. Also included is the news that a further $1.5 million will be spent to improve drying capacity at the Canal Flats mill, acquired by Canfor from Tembec in November 2011. “These investments are critical to support the restart of our Radium division, which was indefinitely closed in May 2009,” Don Kayne, Canfor President and CEO said in a release. “The fibre in the Kootenay region is amongst the best in the world, and these investments will secure our ability to make topquality products here to supply global markets.” Village of Radium Hot Springs mayor Dee Conklin said she wasn’t necessarily surprised by the news, because of all the
SUBMITTED PHOTO Volunteers with the Invermere branch of Wildsight, the environmental group for the Columbia and southern Rocky Mountain region, participated in a wetlands tire removal project in Wilmer on Saturday (April 28). For the full story, turn to page A2.
rumours that had been flying around as of late, but said she was always hopeful that the mill would reopen. “We’ve been terribly optimistic over the last little while, there have been so many rumours on the streets, that you hoped — and we kept hoping with fingers crossed — that it was true,” Conklin said. “It’s absolutely fantastic not
only for our community, but for the whole valley.” The mill first closed in May 2009 as a result of a market downturn. The announcement also follows news in March that Canfor had plans to invest $50 million in the region, without specifying which facility would benefit. At the time, Canfor Director of Public Affairs &
Corporate Communications Christine Kennedy said that a key issue with the Radium sawmill had to do with the use of propane to heat the dry kilns, and estimated that due to the high cost of propane, those costs accounted for about STORY CONTINUES TO 'POTENTIAL' ON PAGE A3
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