‘My stomach just turned’: Families react to charges against Eastway Tank | 24CA News
Janet Ferguson says she did not like that her daughter labored at Eastway Tank, Pump & Meter — a spot the place she and 5 different staff have been killed after an explosion nearly a yr in the past.
On Jan. 13, 2022, Kayla Ferguson, Rick Bastien, Etienne Mabiala, Danny Beale, and Russell McLellan died on the Ottawa tanker producer’s website on Merivale Road after a blast and hearth. A sixth worker, Matt Kearney, succumbed to his accidents in hospital the following day.
Before her daughter’s demise, Ferguson mentioned it was scary to listen to her discuss earlier fires on the website.
When the corporate and its proprietor, Neil Greene, have been charged earlier this week with a number of security contraventions that allegedly occurred within the lead-up to the Jan. 13 explosion, Ferguson mentioned she had a visceral response.
“My stomach just turned,” she mentioned.
Greene couldn’t be reached for remark Friday. The allegations towards him haven’t been confirmed.
A first courtroom date is scheduled for Feb. 17.
Greene and his firm every face three expenses below Ontario’s Occupational Health and Safety Act, together with not taking cheap precautions to guard employees.
“Our thoughts are with the family and colleagues of the individuals who passed away,” the ministry mentioned in an emailed assertion. “As this matter is currently before the court, it would be inappropriate to speculate or comment further.”
A significant hearth on Jan. 13, 2022 left the positioning of a Merivale Road business, Eastway Tank Pump and Meter Ltd., closely broken. The explosion killed six individuals.
Current penalties ‘not sufficient’: households
If convicted, Eastway Tank would face a most tremendous of $1.5 million as a company and Greene would face a most tremendous of $100,000, jail time of as much as 12 months, or each.
“I don’t think it’s enough,” Ferguson mentioned of the penalties going through Greene as a person.
Louise Martel, who misplaced her associate Rick Bastien within the explosion, agreed.
“Twelve months is not enough for what we lost,” Martel mentioned of a possible conviction. “They’re not coming back, so why should he be out there living his life?”
The act was amended in April to extend the utmost tremendous for administrators of firms to $1.5 million, nevertheless it turned regulation after the January 2022 explosion and due to this fact cannot be utilized on this case.
Still, Martel mentioned she was glad the incident was not being “swept under the carpet and somebody will be [held accountable].”
Need higher security requirements, says son
Bastien’s son Josh Bastien labored at Eastway alongside his father till the spring of 2021. He mentioned he left the corporate over security considerations and he is hopeful a conviction might assist result in broader change within the business.
“I worked for so many lax companies. It’s not just Eastway,” he mentioned. “As a country we need better safety standards and enforcement, specifically on sectors where lives are in jeopardy the most.”
Soon after the January 2022 explosion, CBC spoke with three former Eastway staff, together with Josh Bastien, who alleged unsafe working situations there, together with fires, improper storage of flammable chemical substances and welding close to “hot trucks” — tankers that also contained gas or flammable residue.
In a press release to 24CA News on the time, Greene known as the allegations “unfounded.”
One of the costs filed towards Eastway this week alleges the corporate did not take one or extra precautions to guard employees. That consists of guaranteeing {that a} truck “was free of gasoline or any other flammable liquid or substance while work and/or testing capable of being a source of potential ignition was taking place on or near the truck.”
‘Emotions are excessive,’ says former worker
Martel mentioned she’d wish to see the ministry conduct extra inspections of workplaces — notably these finished with out notifying corporations first.
The Ministry of Labour says inspectors beforehand discovered points at Eastway associated to air flow, welding security and coaching and exposures to hazardous chemical substances in June 2017 — points the ministry mentioned have been promptly addressed. That discipline go to was made in response to a office well being and security grievance.
One of the opposite former Eastway employees who spoke to CBC after the explosion, Chris Collins, mentioned it has been a tough yr, notably for households that went by means of their first Christmas with out family members.
“I know emotions are high as the anniversary comes up as well,” he mentioned.
Ferguson mentioned nonetheless not understanding the precise explanation for the explosion nags at her.
“I really wish [Kayla] was still here,” she added.
