BN12-21: L-P INVESTS $15 MILLION IN OSB PLANT UPGRADES

Sept. 1, 1999

By Mark Nielsen , Daily News Staff

Louisiana-Pacific has taken out a building permit for $10 million worth of construction to house a thermal oil regeneration plant. City of Dawson Creek regulatory services director Greg Dobrowolski said the plant will allow L-P to generate extra electricity using the waste product, oil and resins for fuel. As well, he said it will help L-P reduce its emissions.

The overall job, building and machinery included, should cost about $15 million he said.

The permit boosts the total value of permits taken out at city hall to slightly more than $27 million, Dobrowolski said, and there’s still four months to go.

"I’m sitting back in my office just flabbergasted at what’s going on here," he said. "I thought it would be good, I thought we’d have some really solid numbers here, but what’s going on here has come right out of the blue and has just blown me away."

Dawson Creek has developed a reputation as a developer-friendly community, Dobrowolski said.

"You can ask any of the guys who come in from out of town to build here. We’re getting a reputation as being a city that will go the extra mile to make sure that things happen," he said. "You don’t find us being too bureaucratic."

Two other projects, worth about $3 million together, are in the works, Dobrowolski said. One is to build a combination of eight duplexes and single family dwellings. The other is an apartment building.

The strong numbers are also an indication that Dawson Creek has recovered from the excess building that occurred in the early-1980s, Dobrowolski said.

"Don’t forget when the government decided to build in Tumbler Ridge rather than Dawson Creek, it really knocked the wind out of our sails for about 10 years," he said.

"In about a two year period we did about 10 years worth of construction and then we had to sit and wait for that to be absorbed into the market."