Eastway Tank, Pump and Meter Limited and its director, Neil Greene, have been fined following a fatal explosion at their Nepean facility, which claimed the lives of six workers and critically injured another. The incident, which occurred during a routine safety test on January 13, 2022, led to convictions under Ontario’s Occupational Health and Safety Act for failing to adequately protect workers.
The Ontario Court of Justice in Ottawa issued the penalties after Eastway Tank and Greene pleaded guilty to their respective charges. The company was fined $600,000, while Greene was personally fined $80,000. Additionally, the court imposed a 25 per cent victim fine surcharge to support a provincial fund for victims of crime. Crown Counsels Daniel Kleiman, David McCaskill, and Katie Krafchick represented the prosecution.
According to court findings, the explosion resulted from the use of contaminated diesel fuel during a wet test on a newly built tank truck. The diesel, intended to be free from gasoline, was instead found to have been mixed with flammable liquid, which ignited, causing two explosions.
The investigation led by the Ontario Fire Marshal revealed that the contamination occurred when gasoline mistakenly entered the diesel storage system, further compromised by inadequate safety protocols at the facility. The company failed to take “every precaution reasonable in the circumstances for the protection of workers” by ensuring the purity of the fuel used in their operations and failed to provide sufficient information and supervision to prevent such an accident.
This case highlights the critical importance of stringent safety measures and thorough supervision in industrial operations, underscoring the devastating consequences of oversight.
