A fire at 116 Birnie Rd has rendered the Regional District's recycling plant unusable.
March 03, 2013 - 9:06 AM
Late Friday night, March 1 a fire destroyed the Regional District of North Okanagan’s material recovery facility to the point that it is currently not usable. This facility received approximately 100 tonnes per week of the regional districts Blue Bag Recycling Program material for processing and marketing and also approximately 5,000 tonnes per year of commercial recyclable material.
“We are relieved that no one was injured in this fire," said Patrick Nicol, chair of the regional district board of directors.
The entrance to the Greater Vernon Recycling and Disposal Facility is not compromised and the will remain open as usual. With smoke still rising from the fire, those with respiratory ailments are recommended to postpone their trips.
Arrangements are being made with other recycling businesses to take the material until the regional district can either rebuild or finalize a contract with another recycling facility. “This is very unfortunate for the 30 plus employees of Bluewater Project Inc and Venture Training who have been providing the processing services for the RDNO for over 10 years,” Nicol said.
Other options for recycling at this time are Interior Freight and Bottle Depot in Vernon and the regional district’s other two facilities in Spallumcheen and near Lumby:
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Interior Freight and Bottle Depot – 4205 24th Avenue. Open Monday to Saturday 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and Sunday 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
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Armstrong/Spallumcheen RDF – 3367 Powerhouse Road. Open Monday to Friday 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Saturday/Sunday 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
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Lumby RDF – 221 Trinity Valley Road. Open Thursday to Sunday 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Blue Bag collection services will continue as usual; however, some temporary stockpiling of material (paper, cardboard, plastics and tin) may be required until more permanent arrangements can be made.
The cause of the fire remains unknown.
For further information, please call the regional district at 250-550-3700.
News from © iNFOnews, 2013