Millar Western Pulp Mill Celebrates 25th Anniversary
Millar Western’s Whitecourt pulp mill celebrated its silver anniversary this past month. Officially opened on October 14, 1988, as Alberta’s first bleached chemi-thermo-mechanical pulp (BCTMP) facility, the mill was designed with a production capacity of 210,000 tonnes of pulp per year. Thanks to ongoing capital investments and a management approach dedicated to continuous improvement, the operation now produces at a rate of more than 320,000 tonnes per year, while maintaining an outstanding record in safety and environmental performance.
In an event held at the mill on October 16, 2013, company employees celebrated a quarter-century of pulp operations. Their guests included: Hon. Diana McQueen, Minister of Environment & Sustainable Resource Development and MLA for Drayton Valley-Devon; Hon. George Vanderburg, Associate Minister of Seniors and MLA for Whitecourt-Ste. Anne; Mayor Trevor Thain of Whitecourt; Mayor Jim Rennie of Woodlands County; community representatives; and industry colleagues.
A highlight of the silver anniversary event was the dedication of a “silver bale.” Mill Manager Dave Martel explained that, “the mill produces thousands of bales of pulp each day, but for today our mill employees produced a bale wrapped in silver paper, and Minister McQueen helped us stencil the bale with a special anniversary mark.” The bale has been signed by individual employees and remains on display in the mill’s foyer.
Said Mac Millar, Company Co-chairman, “It’s important that we recognize our milestones, because they help remind us all that this pulp mill, our sawmills and the forest product operations across Alberta are sustainable businesses, based on a renewable resource. Our company got its start more than a century ago, and we have been working in Whitecourt’s forests for 90 years, now. Our longevity is based on the renewability of the forest resource and the talents and dedication of our people – and that’s how I know we’ll be around for a long while yet to come.”