The Lakeland Mills sawmill site has been given back to its owners.
WorkSafeBC and the B.C. Safety Authority were jointly holding the site to collect evidence from the wreckage of the April 23 explosion that killed two employees, injured several more, and destroyed the sawmill portion of the lumber facility. WorkSafeBC was the official leading agency, probing the remains of the site for clues as to the cause of the incident.
"WorkSafeBC has ceased its on-site investigation and has officially given back the site at roughly noon today," said Greg Stewart, president of Sinclar Group Forest Products Ltd., owners of Lakeland.
"The investigation is far from concluded," he added. "They are finished with their work at the scene, but they will now be analyzing what they gathered and building a report on all the factors they can determine. That could take a lot of time, we don't know how long."
"There is a lot of technical data to examine, so completion is a long way off," said Greg Paddon, director of technical programs for the B.C. Safety Authority. "The release of the site does not constitute authorization to resume regulated activity other than in accordance with the Safety Standards Act and associated regulations."
WorkSafeBC did not provide a comment by deadline.
Now that Sinclar Group has freedom of the site again, they can start their own probe. Insurance investigators will now take their turn with the affected areas of the sprawling mill yard in downtown Prince George.
