Almost exactly one year after an Eastway Tank explosion killed six people — Ottawa’s deadliest workplace accident in decades — the company and its president/owner are each facing three charges under Ontario’s Occupational Health and Safety Act .
According to records filed in Ottawa court Thursday, proceedings against Eastway Tank, Pump & Meter and Neil Green have begun, with the first court hearing scheduled for Feb. 17.
“Ultimately, I’m disappointed that six people had to die for the safety issues at Eastway to be recognized by the Department of Labor,” said Megan Beale, the sister of Danny Beale, one of the six workers who died.
The charges against the company are:
- That Eastway Tank and Greene failed to ensure that the process of loading and “wet testing” a truck “which produces vapor to such an extent that it could form an explosive mixture with air was performed in an area free of potential ignition sources .”
- That Eastway Tank and Greene failed to take one or more of the following reasonable workplace precautions:
- Ensure that the diesel fuel to be used for wet truck testing is not contaminated with gasoline or any other flammable liquid or substance.
- Ensure that the truck tank does not contain and is free of gasoline or any other flammable liquid or substance while work and/or testing is being performed on or near the truck that could be a source of ignition.
- Make sure the truck and fuel hose nozzle(s) are connected and grounded while the truck is loaded and/or wet tested with fuel.
- Make sure that the fuel is not filled with splashes or splashes in the tank of the truck.
- Ensure that flammable liquid vapors in the truck tank have not been exposed to a potential ignition source.
- That Eastway Tank and Greene failed to provide adequate information, instruction and supervision to workers regarding safe fuel storage and handling procedures to protect workers from the danger of diesel fuel used for wet truck testing being contaminated with gasoline or other flammable liquid or substance.
If convicted, Eastway Tank faces a maximum fine of $1.5 million and Green faces a maximum fine of $100,000, up to 12 months in prison, or both.
The law was amended in April to increase the maximum fine for corporate directors to $1.5 million, but it became law after the explosion in January 2022 and therefore cannot be applied in this case.
The charges have not been proven in court.
Drone footage shows extensive damage after the fire on Merivale Road
A large fire on Thursday afternoon caused heavy damage to the Merivale Road site of Eastway Tank Pump and Meter Ltd. One man is dead and five are missing, police said Friday.
CBC News reached out to Green for comment but did not immediately hear back.
On January 13, 2022, five employees — Rick Bastien, Etienne Mabiala, Danny Beale, Kayla Ferguson and Russell McLellan — were killed at the tank manufacturer’s Merivale Road plant after an explosion and fire. A sixth officer, Matt Kearney, died of his injuries in hospital the next day.
The Ontario Ministry of Labor had one year after the incident to investigate and lay charges for any alleged safety lapses, according to its website.
The Ottawa Police Service is also investigating the incident and does not have a deadline. Police said Friday that the investigation is ongoing.
What exactly caused the explosion remains unclear. The ministry’s website says it is not releasing details of its investigation until the prosecution is complete.
If a coroner’s inquest is eventually held, it will not happen before court proceedings.
Clockwise from top left: Matt Kearney, Etienne Mabiala, Danny Beale, Rick Bastien, Russell McLellan and Kayla Ferguson were killed in an explosion and fire on January 13, 2022 at Eastway Tank, Pump and Meter Ltd., Manufacturer of tanker trucks in south Ottawa. (Photos sent)
Previous allegations of unsafe working conditions
Soon after the explosion, CBC spoke to three former Eastway employees who claimed there were unsafe working conditions there, including fires, improper storage of flammable chemicals and welding near “hot trucks” — tankers that still contain fuel or flammable residue.
In a statement to CBC News at the time, Green called the allegations “baseless.”
“Eastway Tank has always worked to maintain the highest safety standards. We are working closely with the investigators and are cooperating fully to get to the bottom of what happened,” Green said.
The Department of Labor previously said it discovered problems at Eastway related to ventilation, safety and welding training and exposure to hazardous chemicals in June 2017 — issues the department said were addressed immediately.
After the explosion, the ministry found an unspecified safety problem at Eastway, which it declined to elaborate on, citing its own investigation.
A decade before the explosion, a former employee accused Eastway of pressuring him to return to work before he recovered from injuries sustained in a fuel tank explosion.
Those allegations were also not proven in court as the two sides mutually agreed to have the case dismissed due to a provision in Ontario’s Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, according to the lawyer who represented the former employee.
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