The High Prairie Tolko mill welcomed its first truckload of logs on Sept. 13 as part of its re-opening. A ribbon was cut to mark the milestone. Left-right, are Clay Beal, operations manager of Avid Energy Services, of Slave Lake, delivering the first loads; High Prairie plant manager Doug Stangier; Jarod Okemow, operations manager of Driftpile First Nations Enterprises Incorporated, offloading and stockpiling; and John Sommerville, Tolko woodlands harvesting manager.

Richard Froese
South Peace News

Tolko Industries Ltd. has reached a major step to re-open its oriented strand board mill in High Prairie.

Staff welcomed the first truckload of logs on Sept. 14 to get the plant in gear after being closed in 2008.

“It’s a milestone for the plant,” says mill manager Doug Stangier.

“The log yard has been totally rebuilt and ready to take fiber for the mill.”

Logging trucks will continue to roll in at a steady pace.

“We’ll take in 20-30 truckloads a day for the initial time,” Stangier says.

“The rest of the project is on target and we will be ready to start producing in January 2018 as planned.”

When fully operational, the mill will employ up to 175 people directly and 225 more indirectly.

“We have hired more than 50 Tolko employees to date and the numbers continue to grow daily,” Stangier says.

“We have hired many contractors from the local region to haul logs and still have more opportunities for local haulers,” he adds.

The mill will operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, producing OSB, most commonly used for sheathing in walls, flooring and roof decking.

Tolko first opened the mill in 1995 before it closed in 2008 when North American housing starts fell to a generational low, resulting in a loss of markets for oriented strand board.

The proposed harvesting plan has been drafted in consultation with Aboriginal, Metis and general communities.

Proposed areas include Whitefish First Nation, southeast of Snipe Lake, northeast of McLennan, Whitemud Creek, south of Valleyview and west of Spirit River.

The plan must be approved by Alberta Agriculture and Forestry.