Everyday Heroes: Meet Finning's service ... - Finning Canada

TAKE ROOT: The company moves a former waste rock dump,tops it with a metre of till and plants it with alder treeswas cut between the 1,300-foot deep mainpit and the Rupert Inlet in order to flood thepit and transform it into a massive biologicaltreatment system. “We maintain a mixture ofsalt water at the bottom of the pit and freshwater above that, and the surface is fertilizedto create phyto-plankton that metal contaminatesadhere to,” says Paul, general managerof Port Hardy Bulldozing. “The metals thensink to the bottom and the treated water is filteredthrough a beach dump and difused intoRupert Inlet.”Although most rock drainage water iscollected and pumped to this pit, residuallong-term risk to the nearby marine environmentwas considered high enough towarrant further remedial action in 2004.Since the collection system was requiredto operate at mean sea level, the challengewas to engineer a system that would capturemaximum seepage from a waste rock dumpwithout collecting seawater.The solution BHP Billiton came up with,and which Paul Tupper’s company helpedinstall via channeling and backfilling, is a500-metre-long vinyl wall resistant to saltcorrosion. It comprises 822 interlockingvinyl sheet piles, vibrated into the ground toa depth of 12 metres. This technology hadnever before been implemented in NorthAmerica and is one of the reasons mine officialsfrom other countries visit Port Hardy.“They come to check out what has beenaccomplished throughout the site and determineif they can adopt some of these measures,”says Paul.Although Port Hardy Bulldozing performseverything from road building for forestry toresidential site prep and servicing, Paul callsthe mine reclamation “our main priority.”He uses his Cat 330 road builders, 325s, 322s,320s and 416s to spread ballast, dig ditches andfulfill other duties throughout the sprawlingacreage. And he admits to being a devoted Catman. “If you cut me, I bleed yellow,” he says.In 2007 alone, the company purchaseda short-back 320 CLU (which Ron, ever thetinkerer, ran for about a month before handingit to a regular operator), a 242B skid steer,which is currently chipping slag from underneatha recovery boiler for a pulp mill in PortBIG FISH STORY: The company rebuildsa dam, installing a new fish ladderAlice, and a 730 articulated truck.The reclamation has even provided theTuppers with some police action: Paul recentlyhelped the RCMP track down thieveswho had broken into the property to stealcopper scrap and other metals. The thievesfound a way in and were still somewhere onthe grounds. “The hunt began at about 2 a.m.and ended at sunrise,” he recalls with a laugh.“They had lots of places to hide.”All of Island Copper’s hectares have beenrevegetated, but BHP Billiton considers thereclamation to be an “in perpetuity” project,which means Paul’s relationship with themine could conceivably continue into hissenior years. “I’ve been aware of the mineever since I was a kid, when I used to sit onmy dad’s lap as he ran his machines,” the 33-year-old says. “Our company helped build theIsland Copper facility, we helped maintain it,we took it apart, and today we’re very proudto return the land to its natural state.”For 63-year-old Ron and his wife, Anita,whose bookkeeping skills were invaluableto maintaining Port Hardy Bulldozingthrough thick and thin, having a permanentassignment gives them the confidence torelinquish more daily duties to their son.“I’d never fully retire, but I want moretime to tinker with the other mechanics in theshop, which is my specialty,” says Ron. “It’stough making a living up here, and in the olddays I sometimes used to come home and tellPaul, ‘For god’s sake don’t ever wind up doingwhat I do for a living.’ But all things considered,we turned out just fine.”www.finning.ca Spring 2008 • TRACKS & TREADS 37