West Fraser announced a plan to resume manufacturing MDF at WestPine by October 2016. WestPine experienced a fire within the mill’s equipment in March. After the incident, Ted Seraphim, President and CEO of West Fraser, told employees that the mill would not restart until it was reengineered to fully address the conditions that led to the March fire.
At a staff meeting this week, Mr. Seraphim announced that the construction of a new system with advanced safeguards would proceed and be completed this fall.
“After a thorough investigation we are confident that we can reengineer the equipment and process flow at WestPine to ensure a safer working environment for everyone at the facility. We will also be making modifications at our Ranger Board plant in Alberta as a result,” said Mr. Seraphim.
In addition to the two MDF mills (Ranger Board & WestPine), West Fraser Mills Ltd. also operates three plywood mills, an LVL mill and a veneer mill which produces veneer for its Edmonton plywood facility. West Fraser also owns 28 lumber mills and five pulp and paper mills. 2015 sales were $4.1 billion.
