The Abitibi-Consolidated mill here is building berms, and the Boise Cascade mill in International Falls has shut down its hydro plant, as the lower Rainy River continues to rise.
“At the paper mill, we had to shut down number seven paper machine on Wednesday because of the sewer in the basement,” said Raimo Tyrvainen, Abitibi’s energy and utilities co-ordinator.
At 332.06 m (1,089.44 ft.) on Friday, the lower river is at its highest level in years and water had been seeping into the mill through the ground.
Now, although the lower river has yet to reach the height of its banks, the mill has been building up the shoreline there in case it continues to rise and spills over.
“What were doing is just basically a preventative measure,” noted Clark Johnson, Abitibi’s paper production manager.
“It does fluctuate a lot but that is very high. It was only that high in 1974 and 1950,” added Tyrvainen.
Over at the Boise Cascade mill, water was flooding into the hydro plant, forcing it to be shut down to avoid electrical problems.
“Thursday at 3 p.m. we shut down units one, two, three, and four, and then at 7:20 we shut down five, six, and seven,” confirmed Boise spokesperson Marge Veeder.
“They’re shut down do to rising water in the hydro building. It’s a safety concern, you understand,” she said.
And with the hydro plant’s shutdown, less water will flow through the dam, diminishing Rainy Lake’s outflow by about one-fifth, which may speed up how fast the lake’s water levels continue to rise.
Rainy Lake on Friday morning was at 337.97 m (1,108.83 ft.)–about 13 cm (five inches) below the 1996 level of 338.1 m (1,109.25 ft.). And the forecast is calling for more rain this weekend.
Namakan Lake also is continuing to rise, measuring at 341.3 m (1,119.75 ft.) on Friday morning.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
