Tolko’s Lavington, BC, Sawmill Resumes Production Following Energy Transformer Issue

Tolko’s Lavington, BC, sawmill returned to full production on Monday, The Vernon Morning Star reported (1-30-24). The unplanned shutdown happened after an energy transformer issue eight weeks ago interrupted power to the site. According to the report, a replacement energy transformer has been sourced, installed, and energized.

“The journey to get the mill back up has truly been a team effort, and I’m thankful for all of the support from our functional and operational partner,” Tolko Vice President of Solid Wood Troy Connolly told The Vernon Morning Star. “I’d also like to recognize everyone’s attention to safety, the efforts of our Lavington workers and staff who rolled up their sleeves and took on new tasks, and the outstanding support we received from our service teams in the Vernon office.”

Connolly added that while temporary power was restored fairly quickly after the outage, the lack of full power across the site resulted in some unplanned downtime. However, by thinking creatively, Tolko’s team used the opportunity to advance a series of maintenance projects that not only kept people working but has the mill looking better than ever. “This is a resourceful team, and they turned a tough situation into opportunity for improvement,” Conolly said.