The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.
A mass of Christian burial will be held Thursday at 11 a.m. at St. Joseph Church in Chelmsford for the millwright killed on the job at Vale’s Copper Cliff Smelter Complex on Sunday. Paul Rochette, 36, died of severe head trauma at the scene after a large piston on a belt that was crushing ingots of smelted copper-nickel broke off between the smelting and matte processing stages.
Another millwright, a 28-year-old man, suffered a concussion and facial lacerations, but was in stable condition Monday at Health Sciences North’s Ramsey Lake Health Centre. There was no word on his condition Tuesday.
Rochette is survived by his two young children, Isabella and Skyler, parents Eddy and Sue Rochette of Val Caron, sister Angele Kirwan (Ryan) of Val Caron and brother Dan (Nadine Gosselin) of Napanee. In his obituary, it said Rochette will be missed by his best friend, Jessica Daoust, as well as by several nieces and nephews, and many friends, relatives and coworkers.
Visitation will be held Wednesday at Co-operative Funeral Home in Sudbury from 2-5 p.m. and from 7-9:30 p.m. Rochette was described Monday by Vale’s Kelly Strong as experienced, skilled and well trained for his job as an industrial mechanic at the smelter’s casting and crushing plant, as was the younger millwright who was injured. He has not been identified.
The Copper Cliff smelter remains in safe mode, Vale spokeswoman Angie Robson said Tuesday. Shifts are reporting to work at the smelter, but both the smelter and matte processing have been brought down to a safe state, she said. There is no estimate of when normal operations will resume.
On Monday, Strong, Vale’s vice-president of Ontario and UK operations, said company officials would be evaluating the safest way to get the facility operating again.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Labour continues to have control of the accident scene where it is conducting its investigation. Greater Sudbury Police officers are also investigating. United Steelworkers Local 6500, the union the two millwrights belong to, will investigate, as will Vale and Strong said it is his hope the company and union will conduct a joint investigation.
USW Local 6500 president Rick Bertrand said Monday his union’s priority was helping the families of the two members involved in the accident. While it was preparing to launch an investigation, it hadn’t decided if it would do its own or work with Vale on one.
Both Strong and Bertrand have said they will be looking for their investigations, whether separate or joint, to answer questions about Sunday’s tragedy.
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