Winton Global Not Shutting Down Permanently

Friday, January 11, 2008 07:28 PM

Prince George, B.C. - The question of Winton Global shutting down operations is, according to John Elmslie President and Chief Operating Officer ,”Not on the table.” That is the way he described rumors that are circulating that Winton Global may shut down operations in the spring of 2008.

"We are curtailing our operations on River Road right now" he said, "We cannot continue to operate with the uncertainty that we have been facing. We are shutting our operations down for at least two months which will see either spring or some certainty that we can operate our mill."

Elmslie says they are winding things down for safety reasons "Our oil plant has been shut down and we are pumping it out starting tomorrow to allow for us to safely make the shut down."

He says the raising of River Road has had a negative impact on his business "The City by building the road in the manner they have through our property has impeded our ability to operate in any effective means. It is our intention to construct our own berm on our property that does not impede our ability to continue with our operations as a mill, and as soon as we can feel safe in feeling that we are able to operate our facility without fear of flooding our services, we will resume our operations. "

River Road has been built up to a height higher than the 200 year flood plain, and in front of Winton Global , the height is 2 metres, making it more of a wall between the offices and the Planer Mill.

The shut down is templorary says Elmslie "We have no intention of shutting down our operations beyond that period ."

Winton Global workers have not been back to work since December 11th when the Nechako River spilled its banks. Since that time, there has been scheduled downtime over the holidays and the company had hoped to be back to work last Monday, but a breach of the gabion dikes changed that and the workers are off the job till either the threat of flooding is over, or April 1st, whichever comes first.

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Posted on Friday, January 11, 2008 07:28 PM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: Runner46 on January 11 2008 11:09 PM

sheeeeeeeeeessh

Posted by: owl on January 12 2008 12:26 AM

So, since the City is not protecting Winton Global's offc ies and John Birnk and all the other operations on the north side of River Road, who are they protecting.

Could it be CN?

Posted by: whitewater on January 12 2008 6:18 AM

No, the fish.

Posted by: giterdun on January 12 2008 8:17 AM

I THINK THAT THE CITY "LEADERS" (I USE THAT TERM LOOSELY) KNOW FULL WELL THAT THEY HAVE MADE A HUGE MISTAKE. TROUBLE IS THAT NO ONE AT CITY HALL HAS THE GUTS TO ADMITT IT. THEY WILL JUST HIDE AND SAY "THE CONSULTANTS TOLD US TO DO IT."

Posted by: Andyfreeze on January 12 2008 8:52 AM

This is just getting stupid!!
Maybe time there was a general re-think of what's been done or some resignations amy be in order!

Posted by: Chester on January 12 2008 10:24 AM

Checked the price of lumber lately. There are probably no mills that can make money at these prices. Most are losing money daily. So, shutting down could save them tons of money in a terrible market. Convenient timing as the flood makes a great excuse or reason to take this step at this time. Chester

Posted by: thereasonableman on January 12 2008 12:37 PM

At the same time, the lack of action on the part of public officials has been either to avoid spending money, or out of complete and utter uselessness.

Let's melt it with hot water ! How long do you thing that water is going to stay hot once you dump it ? It would just make a f'n mess.

Posted by: gitterdun on January 12 2008 10:52 PM

Chester is right, convenient that they have the flood to blame for their shut down...does this mean that they might be in line for some federal or provincial funding due to the hardships of a natural disaster? It would be much more likely that they would receive monies due to the flood than if they were to shut down because of poor market conditions and a high Canadian dollar. Is Bear Lake flooding also, as I understood that mill is also shutting down? hmmm........