Canada’s oldest water-powered flour mill — a working museum to those who bring it to life daily and who patronize its stores — may be forced by federal order to grind to a halt.

The 197-year-old Arva Flour Mill has found itself at the centre of a battle between heritage and modern safety standards as federal inspectors have declared its innards a safety hazard.

With its exposed vintage rollers and leather belt-driven motors that slowly grind wheat into flour, the mill, located just north of London, apparently doesn’t meet today’s codes, said owner Mike Matthews, as he stood beside one of the massive beams that were mature trees before settlers set foot in the area.

“The federal labour code has no stipulation for historic (facilities). They just don’t care,“ he said Thursday.

Federal health-and-safety inspectors last month dropped in, unannounced, and ordered that the machinery come to a halt. The landmark mill was idled until last week, when they gave the go-ahead for Matthews, but no other millers, to restart the machinery.

Their order says the mill’s workings are unsafe for employees unless guards are put in place to prevent millers’ hands from coming near the roller mills. But it also notes that testing the product requires millers to place their hands between the rollers.

Matthews, whose family has owned the place for four generations, said he’s still in shock.

“It doesn’t really make sense to me. It’s not that it’s unsafe. People that work with it know it demands respect,” just as any machinery does, he said.

The federal ultimatum to fix it or cease operating is under appeal.

The mill opened in 1819 at its location on Medway Creek and has endured, while modernization shuttered or transformed milling operations elsewhere.

This latest issue is more than a hiccup, though.

“It just doesn’t meet current regulations and there just doesn’t seem to be any way around it” short of spending hundreds of thousands on upgrades that would take away its uniqueness, said Bill Fellner, resident historian, mill promoter and owner of the adjacent Millhouse Store.

“It’s like somebody having a Model T on the road and taking it off the road because it doesn’t have airbags,” he said.

The mill produces artisanal flour that has come to be prized especially among foodies. It’s sold on site and online.

The two retail operations on the historic site remain open. The mill itself continues to operate, albeit to a more limited degree. Matthews isn’t sure how much longer he will be able to continue doing the work of three millers, on his own.

Matthews urged people to call their MPs so the decision can be reversed on what he calls the last flour mill of its kind in Canada.

“It’s not setting a precedent because there are none of these left. They’ve destroyed them all.”

The mill has an ally in the London Chamber of Commerce, where chief executive Gerry Macartney was dumbfounded by the federal move.

“It’s a landmark. It’s one of those significant companies that we’ve had in this region for 150-plus years.”

The federal government regulates the flour industry, a throwback to Canada’s early farming roots.

Macartney said the issue illustrates “that heritage tug-of-war” that may sometimes happen between modern safety standards and historic structures.

“I get that, but truly we can find some common ground.”

He also expressed annoyance the owners neither received warning of an inspection nor any grace period for addressing any issues. And, he said, it’s only reasonable that companies within heritage structures should be given a grace period — even four to five years — to adapt their processes and buildings.

“I think the government owes it to companies like that to give them fair warning,” Macartney said.

“It’s puzzling: why now, why so suddenly and why so randomly,” Macartney said.

Matthews said this specific machinery has been in place for 113 years without incident. “There are lots of old stories about this mill, but no stories of injuries.”

In 2007, the band White Stripes performed in a pop-up concert at the mill.

Fellner said the mill even has its own resident ghost, believed to be that of a former mill owner, who can be heard whistling or talking when no other (live) people are in the building.

--- --- ---

What the feds found:

“The roller mill contains numerous moving and rotating parts that do not have guards in place to protect the employees. Due to the work process involved, the operators of the mill must be in proximity to moving belts and rollers during the milling process including testing the product by inserting their hands into the roller mill while it is operating . . . Therefore, you are hereby directed to protect any person from the danger immediately . . . You are hereby further directed . . . not to use or operate the machine . . . until this decision has been complied with.”

— Order under the Canadian Labour code, occupational health and safety

dvanbrenk@postmedia.com

Twitter: @DebatLFPress



Flour from the Arva Flour Mill is sold at markets throughout Ontario.