HomeMy WebLinkAboutGoderich Signal Star, 2011-08-31, Page 21ignal-Star • Wednesday, August 31, 2011
1110
40 up
.1
e damage
Dominique Milburn liodench Signal -Star
Sifto Salt Mine took the first hit of the F3 tornado
t struck town Aug. 21. There was extensive damage to
Cures. One employee, Norman Laberge was killed in the
ther event.
derich
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Compass committed to mine reconstruction
Dave Sykes
Goderich Signal -Star
Operations ;at the Sifto Salt
Mine have not resumed but
Compass Minerals of Kansas
City is "absolutely commit-
ted" to the mine's reconstruc-
tion and continued
operation.
"We are rebuilding and we
know how important Sifto is
to the town," former mine
manager and Compass Min -
teals Country Executive for
Canada and Director of Cor-
porate Engineering, Rowland
Howe said Monday. "We've
got people going under-
ground doing inspections
and. the mine was not
harmed. Surface damage is
huge but we are surprised by
what we have left."
Hydro poles are down and
being replaced in the area
and a transformerstation lost
in the storm is now being
reconstructed.
"Absolutely we are commit-
ted to reconstruction. Com-
pass Minerals is totally dedi-
cated to get the mine going
again," he said. "Salt will be
moving sooner than later. We
have to restore power and
boat loading capacity."
As of Monday morning,
some employees were on site
at the mine location "to assess
damage and clean up"
according to Compass Miner-
als spokesperson Kelly
Barton.
"On Monday we will had
about 49 employees at the
mine site and another 27 will
be at the evaporator plant,"
she said. "There is electricity
to the evaporator plant and
there. are generators at the
mine to bring power to the
shaft and pumping system.
"'Thegoal is to bring people
back as soon as possible but
not at the expense of bringing
thern into an unsafe
environment."
About 485 people arc.
employed at the Sifto Mine
and evaporator plant.
The salt mine was the first
structure in Goderich hit by
the F3 tornado Sunday, Aug.
21.
Mine worker Norman Lab-
erge, 61, of the Lucknow area
was killed in the storm. The
31 -year employee was in a
loading boom when the
storm hit the waterfront. Pri-
vate funeral services were
held at the family home. last
Friday.
"Let us not forget about
Norman and the absolute
tragic event in which he lost
his life. The storm carne on so
fast that there was little time
to react,," Howe said. "He was
in the loading boom over the
boat on Sunday and other
employees were in the area
but in more secure positions.
He's a symbol of what's hap-
pened in Goderich."
While special rescue teams
from Toronto were called in
to help in the rescue effort, it
was the local rescue team
that carried Laberge out on
the stretcher.
Through the reconstruc-
tion process, the company
paid every employee for 40
hours of work and employees
were then issued temporary
layoff notices.
The company has set up
two phone lines for employ-
ees to call for information.
The numbers are; 1-877-766-
1823 for the mine and 1-877-
893-0897 for the evaporator
plant.
Information is also availa-
ble on the company websites:
www; goderichmine.ca and
www.goderichplant.ca
Compass Minerals has
made donations to the Salva-
tion Army and established an
employee Relief fund with
matching funds that help
employees and their
families.
Neighbours helping neighbours inspirational to all: Shewfelt
Gerard Creces
OMI Agency
A Thursday morning talk
with Goderich Mayor Deb
Shewfelt reveals a town work-
ing to get back on its feet.
By noon Thursday, High-
way 21 was open and Hwy. 8
expected to be open by p.m.
Police are working on d owns-
caling the secured restricted
areas.
Union Gas has 2,000
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customers relit and hydro
crews have repaired the Pic -
ton Street substation, woridng
well into the night
Wednesday.
Another 1,000 customers
have had hydro restored to.
their homes, and Shewfelt
said everyone should be
hooked up by Friday. Power
has been restored to the Sifto
evaporator plant, however
the mine will be a work in
progress for some time after a
transformer was downed in
the lake.
Again, the Mayor stressed
people should not be touch-
ing debris on: public property.
Crews will be sent to collect
it.
"We do not know what con-
taminants
on-tarninants may be in there,"
he said.
Fire crews will have to wet
down the debris to eliminate
the threat of airborne parti-
cles such as asbestos.
"As we speak," he said
Thursday morning. 'Works
staff are still working on
downed trees."
Most roads are open in
town and a huge chipper has
been set up at the site of the
old dump on Maitland Road
to handle the mass amounts
of brush coming in.
Parks staff are .wotidng wi tl t
counterparts from the
Ontario Parks Association to
assess the situation in public
parks. Superintendent Martin
Quinn noted the beaches are
open and the cemetery is
expected to be open by the
weekend.
Social service workers,
Shewfelt said, will be doing a
door-to-door check to make
sure nobody is left behind or
wanting for food, clothing or
shelter.
However, any business
with food that was affected by
the power outage must dis-
pose ofit. Teams will be get-
ting to restaurants to properly
dispose of spoilage.
Meanwhile, building offi-
cials and engineers are enter-
ing downtown buildings
wearing respirator equip-
ment, deciding whether or
not they are safe to enter.
"We have very close to 70
(applications) done where.
owners can recoup posses-
sions and secure their build-
ings," he said.
The county held a meeting
Thursday morning to decide
where and how to relocate
court services and social serv-
ices and council may have to
look at rezoning in the core to
allow people to rebuild.
Shewfelt said it is not fair to
punish people with red tape if
they want to rebuild.
Council is now tasked with
deciding on a committee to
handle the $5 million from
the Province of Ontario for
disaster relief, as well as other
relief funds pouring in,
CONTINUED > PAGE 22