Tolko Industries Ltd. is complying with a WorkSafeBC mill review in wake of the Lakeland Mills explosion as well as conducting independent reviews of its eight Interior mills.



Bob Fleet, Tolko's vice-president of environment and forestry said the company already has a "rigid program of monthly housekeeping and safety inspections" to control dust from beetle-killed timber.
 


Inspectors do not have answers yet for the cause of the explosion that killed two men at the Prince George mill blast, nor another deadly blast in January at a Burns Lake mill explosion.
 


Tolko's mills in the Central Interior handle more beetle-killed timber than mills in the south, including at Merritt. The company operates a veneer and plywood plant at Heffley Creek that typically deals with green material.
 


Fleet said the company will do its own inspections and safety audits in addition to co-operating with WorkSafeBC.

It intends to complete the WorkSafeBC inspections this week.

While some have placed blame on pine beetle-killed timber, Fleet acknowledged that is speculation based on Interior mills' long record of safety, smashed in the last four months.

Many Central Interior mills deal with little else but dead pine-beetle timber.

(Kamloops Daily News)