By Steve Hubrecht
[email protected]

During a recent update from Canfor Corporation, Radium Hot Springs council members heard about the dip in production at the local Radium sawmill caused by the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, heard that a few months later the operation was back at full steam, and heard that complaints from village residents about dust from the mill may be somewhat abated in the near future thanks to a large-scale paving project.

The update came during the most recent Radium council meeting prior to the Pioneer’s press time.

Canfor’s Radium plant manager, Travis Emel, presented at the meeting, noting that the Radium sawmill is a big part of Canfor’s global operations and high-value forest products strategy.

Emel outlined that Canfor creates 177 direct jobs in Radium and as many as 500 in the Kootenay region. The company has invested $67 million in Radium ($178 million in the Kootenay), with an estimated economic impact, over the past decade, of $753 million in Radium (and $1.8 billion in the Kootenay).

That $753 million in economic impact includes $460 million on logging contractors, $171 in salaries and wages at the mill, $99 million on stumpage, and  $2.6 million in property tax. 

“The most frequent concerns we hear from residents are about are noise, dust and speed. We do take those concerns seriously,” says Emel.

He added that, in 2013, the mill went through significant upgrades, which includes getting rid of the mill’s beehive burner. Mill representatives then explained that they did see “a bit of a crazy turn” when COVID-19 hit back in March 2020, but, by mid June 2020, the mill was back to full operation.

The wildfires burning across B.C. this summer were also addressed, with mill officials saying the Radium sawmill had not suffered any direct impacts as a result of the fires. 

Emel explains that the mill is set to start a five-year paving plan that, when finished, will see the entire mill yard paved, which will reduce dust, and will make the yard safer for employees.