McCoy not shut down

The McCoy Elevator and Rail Terminal should be operating by the end of the week, hopefully, according to Pacific Northwest Cooperative CEO Shawn O’Connell. The facility was damaged by smoldering grain fires Saturday and Sunday. Damage was done to the conveying equipment and extensively to the load-out equipment, but PNW expects to be operating enough to get through the rest of harvest shortly.

“We do appreciate (the growers’) patience as we work through this problem,” said O’Connell.

At the time of the incident, McCoy was doing 400 trucks per day. While the elevator has been down, those trucks have re-routed to more than 20 other facilities.

Earlier predictions—not made by PNW—were that McCoy would be down for the rest of harvest. O’Connell said there was damage they could not repair and crews had to be brought in to assess and fix it. Crews are working as fast as they can to make repairs. Meanwhile, clean up of the water used to extinguish the smoldering fires is underway.

No damage was done to the rail line, and a train is ordered to arrive Thursday. As soon as it does, PNW will start loading, O’Connell said.

He also expressed gratitude to the fire fighters and their quick response in putting out the smoldering fires.

The cause of the smoldering fires is believed to be due to a mechanical failure, but it is still under investigation.