Catalyst Paper Corporation’s Powell River mill has been shut down since Monday, January 25 due to a boiler leak.
According to Catalyst vice-president, Graham Kissack, the leak in the number 19 power boiler forced the shutdown for repairs, which have been completed. The mill had steam as of Tuesday, February 5. While the boiler was being fixed, mill operations had to be fully curtailed.
Kissack said the shutdown coincided with the recent cold snap, which meant the mill was that much colder and took longer to warm up the machines.
According to Kissack, the boiler started heating up on Wednesday, February 6, and currently the plan is to have paper on the machines by Friday.
While maintenance work continued, Kissack said there were about 100 temporary layoffs as a result of the problem because the mill cannot operate without steam.
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