Document Recovery Expertise

Document restoration experts BELFOR Canada have been hired by government to recover wet paper documents damaged during Hurricane Ivan.

Marshall Oliver, the Director of Technical Services for BELFOR Canada’s International Catastrophe Response team, came to the island immediately following Ivan to lend his expertise to the task of document recovery and BELFOR has since been retained under contract by Michael Nixon, Deputy Director of the Budget and Management Unit.

The National Archive, the Credit Union and other departments have already begun the first steps in saving their documents under Mr. Oliver’s direction by preparing and freezing papers, books and files that will later be thermal vacuum freeze-dried (TVFD) and decontaminated.

Thermal vacuum freeze-drying is the removal of moisture while paper is in a sub-zero vacuum environment. Application of heat accelerates the process; however, the temperatures must always be maintained below the triple point (the temperature and pressure at which the gas, liquid, and solid forms of moisture coexist in thermodynamic equilibrium). The TVFD method is considered the best method of removing moisture from paper given Grand Cayman’s circumstances.

Here are some tips for recovering wet paper materials:

• Dispose of non-essential paper to reduce volume and resulting cost.
• Pack wet files in boxes lined with plastic bags and place boxes on a dry surface to prevent them from absorbing moisture. Fill every box completely to reduce swelling of wet paper. Seal the plastic bag before closing the box.
• Seal the boxes with packing tape to provide extra strength.
• Stack boxes on a dry surface no more than 3 boxes high unless proper palletizing procedures are available.
• Freeze the boxed paper as soon as possible to prevent further deterioration and to temporarily halt mould growth.
• Wear gloves and a respirator if visible mould is present.