A large excavator sits silent while logs are being “hand-bombed” onto a conveyor at Federated Co-operatives’ plywood mill in Canoe.
Humans will be undertaking the labour-intensive job of guiding logs to a jack-ladder that carries them up to the machine plant until plywood production superintendent Matt Mead is satisfied the machine that normally does the job is not leaking oil into Shuswap Lake. The issue was brought to Mead’s attention by Ministry of Environment Environmental Protection Officer Dean Jeske, who received an anonymous email complaint late last week.
According to the complainant, the barker, the large excavator that is equipped with grapples to pick out logs from a boom, has been leaking oil for some time.
“They are neglecting to fix this problem and every day more oil goes into the lake,” wrote the complainant. “There are other environmental concerns that are hidden or cleaned up when an ‘inspector’ is to arrive.”
But Jeske says he does not believe Federated pollutes the lake on purpose and that he works closely with Mead on environmental matters.
“They use a vegetable-based hydraulic fluid, so the stuff that does get into the water is considered a non bio hazard, and they retain spill booms with absorbent “socks,” he says, noting he received the bio-hazard information from Rick Wagner, one of MOE’s emergency environmental response officers. “I’d be safe to say they are not knowingly polluting the lake,” he says. “If there is minor spillage, they are making every effort to clean it up.”
Mead agrees. After receiving Jeske’s call last week, he ordered an investigation of the drip pan and a full clean-up on the machine.
“We shut it down Thursday, we reacted right away when I heard the complaint,” says Mead, who notes he took another look at the machine Tuesday morning and decided to keep it idle. “From17:35:23 a business standpoint, I am not happy with how we’re handling the machine. I don’t know how long it will be out of commission; until I am happy with the way it looks and the way it’s being handled down there.”
Mead says Federated works hand-in-hand with MOE to make sure it meets enviornmental standards.
"We have to really take care of the environment," he says. "I enjoy the lake as much as anyone else. It's my town, my kids play out on the lake, we have to take care of that."