The City of Prince Rupert is calling out for bids for the demolition and salvaging of infrastructure at the former pulp mill on Watson Island.
In September, the city announced it had awarded a contract to Stantec Engineering to arrange a course of action for decommissioning the former pulp mill and put two notices on B.C. Bid related to the work earlier this month.
The first notice was a request for proposals for the demolition, salvage and removal of structures, contents and equipment at Watson Island and the second was an invitation for offers on industrial equipment from the site.
As part of a settlement with Sun Wave Forest Products, the former owner will pay for the deconstruction project, but will be able to use funds from an asset recovery program designed to net-back some value from equipment and scrap metal sales to cover the costs.
“There’s still lots of valuable material out there that could be used for other industries,” explained Prince Rupert Mayor Lee Brain.
Although the undertaking won’t be a full shut down of the site, Mayor Brain said it’s a huge step in moving forward.
“This decommissioning isn’t necessarily a full remediation of the island. It’s just part of the process of stripping down the materials and buildings (to their foundations). Some of the buildings are still usable, so those will stay intact,” he explained.
The project will consist of three phases, the first being the demolition and salvaging of infrastructure and equipment in the terminal building where the majority of industrial equipment with potential resale value is located. It will also include the demolition and salvaging of the power house, recaustizing and chip handling areas.
In the second phase, mechanical equipment in the pulp finishing machine room will be salvaged, along with equipment in the wood room, which will be demolished to its foundation.
The request for proposals states the first two phases would commence concurrently.
In the third phase, the hog fuel handling facilities and other structures not considered to have salvage value will be disassembled and demolished to their foundations.
Storage tanks will be prepared for demolition and salvage, but the chemicals will be removed as a separate decommissioning exercise. Brain said full remediation will take place when the city is able to pursue other economic interests of the site.
“The next step after that would be clearing out the black and green liquor tanks and the hog fuel pile. This would make Watson Island much more attractive in terms of an investment,” he said, adding the city will be aggressive in making sure that happens.
The City of Prince Rupert remains in a legal dispute over the site with the Watson Island Development Corporation.
“Right now we still can’t clear title. But we feel confident things will move forward with that case within a few years,” Brain said.
Presently, the City of Prince Rupert is paying approximately $80,000 per month for site maintenance and monitoring fees.
Brain said the city will work to reduce the overhead while decommissioning work takes place.
“We’re hoping that the overhead of Watson Island will be significantly reduced to the point where it would actually take a burden off taxpayers,” Brain said.
The city has given groups leasing property at the site notices to vacate the premise, with Brain stating the deconstruction work could begin as soon as May.