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MERRITT HERALD THURSDAY, JANUARY 9, 2014 • MERRITT NEWSPAPERS
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PICTURESQUE PRECIPITATION Merrittonians can expect more precipitation after this fall of the white stuff that lasted the better part of the day on Tuesday. Environment Canada is calling for showers on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and mostly cloudy skies until next week. Temperatures are expected to hover around the zero mark. Emily Wessel/Herald
Highland Valley investigating power outage
Nobody hurt when water pipe burst at mine’s mill on Boxing Day By Michael Potestio the herald
reporter@merrittherald.com
Highland Valley Copper is investigating a power failure that led to the explosion of a six-inch water pipe underneath the flotation section of the mill portion of the mine on Boxing Day. Superintendent of safety and loss control Trevor Phelps told the Herald the company’s initial findings indicate the pipe burst when the mill abruptly lost power.
On Dec. 26, a short-circuit from an old cable that runs out of a transformer knocked out electrical systems, causing safety relays to essentially shut off the power to the transformer and the entire mill, Phelps said. “That sudden interruption of power — understand that we’re processing upwards of 7,200 tons per hour here — and when you shut off power to a process that’s that involved, a lot of
things can happen. There’s a lot of negative consequences that can happen,” Phelps said. Subsequently, there were valves that shut down automatically, causing the force of the resulting water hammer to break the pipe, he said. The mine was without power for about eight hours when the incident occurred. Phelps said when the pipe burst it damaged a metal storage trailer, but no one
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He also said they are conducting a full investigation and have access to the cable that failed. They’ve also re-routed power to another transformer to provide power to the mill. “We’re going to be looking at why this cable failed,” Phelps said. “Any major disruption, we take a look at it and do a very comprehensive evaluation,” Phelps said. Phelps said this incident is preventable.
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indicate the location of the power failure came from a tool crib (where tools are stored), which is manned 24-7, Phelps said. He said a man who was in the tool area noticed some sparks and called for assistance. The power then shut down, Phelps said. “And when it shut down quickly like that some valves closed, we suspect,” Phelps said, noting a full investigation still needs to be done.
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was injured in the incident. “When a six-inch waterline breaks, people notice,” Phelps said. “As far as the potential for somebody being hurt, what I’m being advised is that there was very little potential because of the location of it,” he said. “It sprayed a lot of water, but there’s very little potential for anybody to be injured even if it was a regular operating day.” The initial findings
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