Wow, costly business to run these mills. I know there is the payroll and power bill to pay, but what else costs so much? Million a month seems like a lot.

Anybody care to educate me?

The Minister of Forestry - Pat bell - should be able to tell the taxpayers of BC why it is such a costly business- $1 million per month - a trip to China for him might give him the clues and answers.

Those radio active guages probably have about as much juice as a pocket watch.

Yes. When the shutter is closed on the source housing which is made out of lead the minute amount of cesium radiation can not escape.

The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission keeps track of all these devices and requires that regular wipe tests (checking for leaks) are performed and samples are send in for testing.

These tests verify the integrity of the devices and the fact that trained personnel are looking after them.

A strict protocol is followed and that is the way it should be.

I think we all know that you don't ask Pat Belly for the answers,all you will get is BS. He likes to export raw logs=(jobs) from B.C. and dream up technology to make dead pine trees stand a little longer in the bush.

Hard to believe that it is costing a million dollars a month to keep the mill warm. How about an explanation, Pat Bell?
If that cost figure is real, then maybe someone should look at ways to save some money.
metalman.

The government should just take the mill back from this company. They seem to be lost when it comes to running a mill.

Pat Bell killed Mackenzie.

#1) He supported his logging buddies in exporting logs to other communities and beyond.

#2) He supported the sale of BC Rail without a public mandate, which in turn killed the shipping efficiency of the Mackenzie mills, caused inventory build ups that ultimately led to a decision to mothball the pulp mill when they ran out of storage space.

#3) He supported the sale of the now moth balled pulp mill to a company he did no background check on, that never should have been allowed to purchase the mill and that effectively put the nail in the coffin of Mackenzie as a viable town if they can't get that pulp mill running again.

Now Pat is trying to further justify raw log exports (to help his logging buddies) saying that until we have an industry here that can can process the wood this is good for the future of the industry (loggers).

I for the life of me can not think of a good reason why the people of that town voted for Pat... other than they were baffled by complicated talk that always sounded like he knew what he was talking about, because it was so complicated.

Its simple really IMO Pat Bell must go if that town will ever have a chance at resurrecting itself from the dead. The ndp are not an option either....

oh please, blaming Pat Bell for the troubles in Mackenzie is about as bright as blaming Shirley Bond for the weather!
Mackenzie is a victim of the downturn in the economy. Pope and Talbot didn't go broke just in Mackenzie, they went belly up everywhere. Canfor has closed saw mills and reduced production all over the province, other lumber companies in other provinces have closed operations, so you can hardly blame Pat Bell for that. We have to understand, this unfortunate series of events in Mackenzie is a result of the collapse of the US housing market, and the global economic collapse and a community that really didn't have a diversified economy. I feel for the people in Mackenzie, however, blaming the events in the U.S. and the global meltdown on Pat Bell? come on.....

Trudy - good comment!

Yes, good comment Trudy!

Why does Gordo & the liberals take credit for the upswings in the global economy and then blame the ndp for world wide economic down turns???

Comment Posted by: beesknees on March 10 2009 5:49 AM
Wow, costly business to run these mills. I know there is the payroll and power bill to pay, but what else costs so much? Million a month seems like a lot.

Anybody care to educate me?

The power bill in itself adds up due to the number of motors that need to run to circulate liquids. Black liquor eventually would solidify, as would other liquid products and potentially cause ruptures. Although only the steam plant is operational, First aid attendants are a requirement as are maintenance support staff, although they may be included already in the employment number. The power boiler may be running partially on HOG fuel(bark, chips)which must be purchased from somewhere. Mainly I believe they are running boilers on natural gas, and we wall no how cheap that is. Other permits and licences are also required to run as well as other compliance testing. It all adds up.

trudy, do you not understand that this site is for people to express their opinion,right or wrong.Gordo and Pat Belly are selling out B.C. and our resourses.Raw log exports only benefit a small workforce and for a limited amount of time.

Some people would like us to believe that during the NDP decade there were no raw log exports whatsoever.

Not so! Mike Harcourt already said that although he doesn't like raw logs to be exported there are certain realities that must be considered!

"Raw log exports only benefit a small workforce and for a limited amount of time."

It's been going on for decades, so those workers have had jobs for decades when they would not have had any jobs at all.

I remember every BCNDP premier defending raw log exports by saying that at least it provides badly needed jobs!

Ask the workers if they would rather be collecting EI or welfare!

Trudy, you are 100% correct. This time we do not have just an Asian economic flu which affects only B.C. (!) but we have a global meltdown of epic proportions!

And, of course, it has all been planned and instigated by almighty Gordon Campbell and the BC Liberals!

Is that Brooklyn Bridge still for sale?

This is starting to sound like the old Skeena days in Prince Rupert, the Gov involved again.

Well said Trudy. I don't think Pat Bell brought down the world economy.
Could Shiley Bond now do something about this "freakin" weather.

I repeat Why not see if the operating pulpmills in the area [PG & Quneal] could take the dangerous goods to use in their operations. Let them have it for the cost of transportation .

downnotout what a good idea seems to me the province (thats us) is being held ransom for something that should have never got this far is it the workers ? government ? owners or lack of ? well it sure is not the economic climate to hold chemicals at 1 million/month at our expense expecially for a mill with no real potential for start up like weres the chips dude???????????the people in mackenzie should have bought the mill like harmac employees

The Liberals will maintain this mill until their buddy Jimmy is ready to take it over. Canfor will get it for free after he helps the Libs win the next election, Canfor has had a hand in this debacle from a arms length from day one. Not that thats a bad thing if they get it, just a tad underhanded ... but hey thats Jimmy ...

"..Why does Gordo & the liberals take credit for the upswings in the global economy and then blame the ndp for world wide economic down turns???.."

What??? The role of the government to to make sure we get some of that upswing in the world economy. If you had the NDP in power for example, you could then blame them for not getting our share of any up tick in the economy. When the NDP hangs out the "BC is Closed" sign it takes a while to turn that around. Now that is what the BC Liberals can claim they did do. In a down turn in the economy there is nothing the NDP or BC Liberals can do.

Unless of course you are an NDP hack, then anytime the people of BC suffer it is good news for the NDP. So be happy, I guess...

I think we have gotten a little off topic here regarding this news clip. What is very clear here is that Mr.Minister of Forests and the Mackenzie mayor did not do their homework. Before the sale of the mill they should have made sure that all the necessary permits were in place and the buyer knew the intricacy of operating a pulp mill. The faith in this form of leadership is very lacking in these tough times.

Trudy Pat Bell is the MLA for Mackenzie and not Shirly Bond. You have your MLA's mixed up. It is Pat Bell's job as MLA for that community to advocate good policy to protect the interest of his constituents.

Supporting the sale of BC Rail had nothing to do with the global economic downturn and a lot to due with the shipping disruptions prior to the mill closures.

Supporting shipping logs out of the community enabled the mill closure of the Canfor mills as those logs all go to PG now and Mackenzie mill workers watch those logs leave their community. Pat Bell supports that and it has nothing to do with the global economy.

Supporting a ownership group for the pulp mill that now has to be bailed out with tax payer dollars, has ties to suspect off shore money laundering outfits, and didn't have a clue how to run a pulp mill had nothing to do with the global economic downturn and everything to do with Forest Minister and local MLA Pat Bell's lack of due dilligance in the most important decision he has ever had to make for his constituents.

To blame these decisions that have nothing to do with the global economic conditions on the global economic conditions is purely political and designed to evade accountability for his record. Pat Bells voting record supported the destruction of the Mackenzie area as a viable forestry town regardless of economic conditions in the global economy.