Domtar

Council offload taxes from industry to homeowners

Kamloops homeowners will have to dig deeper for city taxes this year to pay for a drop in taxes for some of the area's biggest businesses. In early March, four heavy industry players – Domtar, Lafarge, Tolko and Arclin – asked for a decrease in city taxes. After three hours of back and forth discussion...

Cleaner air following pulp machine closure

Domtar Kamloops mill environmental lead Kristin Dangelmaier doesn't expect to have the same number of complaints about smell this summer following the closure of the A-line pulp machine this week. The closure forces the layoff of 125 employees but also means reductions of 80 per cent of sulphur particulate (the main cause of the bad...

Officials at Kamloops mill come to agreement with union

KAMLOOPS – Officials at Domtar have reached an agreement with the Unifor union to support local trade apprenticeship students with training opportunities at the pulp-mill in Kamloops. The agreement follows the issues caused by the pulp-mill’s A-Line closure in 2013. The decision resulted in a layoff for 125 workers and an 80 per cent reduction...

Don’t be alarmed by the alarms

KAMLOOPS - Domtar is running a test of emergency response systems this morning, and while a company spokesperson says it likely will not be heard by many people they want to reassure everyone it is just a test. “We do it periodically to test our emergency response systems to make sure they are all working,”...

New Gold air quality better than originally indicated

REPORTING METHODS UPDATED KAMLOOPS - The amount of fine particulate matter produced by the New Gold mine just outside of Kamloops is a lot lower than originally thought, according to recent numbers from the company. When the 2012 numbers were released last summer it appeared the New Afton Mine was the third worst polluter in...

Big industry wants bigger tax breaks

KAMLOOPS - The heavy industry players in Kamloops have been asking for a tax break for almost eight years and while council agreed to hold the line this year the four big companies still want to see more done. Last year council agreed to a last minute change in the budget, allowing a small break...

Domtar eyes North Shore monitoring station

KAMLOOPS — Though complaints are down, Domtar continues to closely monitor odours from the factory and is even looking at adding an additional air quality monitor near McArthur Island. Kristin Dangelmaier, Environmental Manager for the Kamloops mill, says there appears to be a direct correlation between the reduction in number of calls and the closure...

Fewer complaints over stench in 2013

KAMLOOPS — The annual air report from Domtar shows improvements in air quality, though the company is claiming the public tolerance for smell may be getting lower as well. Overall, complaints in 2013 were 'notably fewer' than the previous two years, which the company attributes to the measurable reductions in total reduced emissions from the...