There are three major processing plants for forest products in Manitoba. Tembec operates a pulp and paper mill in Pine Falls, Manitoba. Tolko operates a kraft paper plant in The Pas, Manitoba. Louisiana-Pacific operates an oriented strand board (OSB) plant at Minitonas, near Swan River, Manitoba.

These three processing plants for the large forestry corporations from outside Manitoba are all on the top ten worst polluters in Manitoba.
Tembec’s Pine Falls plant burns coal to process trees clearcut from our provincial parks into paper. It is the third-worst polluter in the province.
Tolko’s plant in The Pas is the fourth-worst polluter in the province.
Louisiana-Pacific’s operation near Swan River is the ninth-worse polluter in the province.

Tembec and Tolko are ranked third and fourth because Manitoba is home to the two worst polluters in all of Canada. The smelting plants in Thompson (Inco) and Flin Flon (HudBay) are ranked first and third-worst polluters in all of Canada, with Inco’s Copper Cliff, Ontario smelter taking the second-worst spot. Were it not for such astonishing environmental degradation caused by the mining companies, Tembec and Tolko would have the worst pollution record in the province, rather than the third- and forth-worst.

Incidentally both of these operations polluted more than Manitoba’s coal-fired generating station at Brandon, which is ranked sixth-worst in the province. Premier Doer stated in early 2007 that the time had past to be able to operate a coal-fired plant. Unfortunately Premier Doer is still allowing Tembec’s Pine Falls plant to burn coal to make paper.