New details exposed in Ottawa workplace explosion that killed 6
Eastway owner abandons bid to have seized material returned and to stop Ottawa police from using it
Police investigating one of the deadliest workplace incidents in Ottawa's history believe a chain of negligent acts caused the explosion at Eastway Tank, Pump and Meter that killed six employees in 2022, according to a substantially unredacted document exposing new details that was filed in court.
The document also reveals that Ottawa police expanded the scope of the investigation into company owner Neil Greene by more than five years — all the way back to 2015 — to see how Eastway operated before, during and after the tenure of an employee who had improved safety at the company, and was later terminated.
The new details are contained in an information to obtain, or ITO, which Det.-Sgt. Michael Cathcart wrote in September 2023 to convince a judge to authorize more search warrants in the case.
CBC reported on a heavily redacted version of the ITO last year after going to court to fight a publication ban.
ITO doesn't paint full, accurate picture: Defence
A version with far fewer redactions was filed in court in December. Names of employees and witnesses are still redacted, along with some allegations police are holding back to protect the investigation.
The ITO is essentially a snapshot of the results of the investigation up to the date it was filed. It's been 17 months since then, and much may have changed.
As well, Greene's defence lawyers Kirstin Macrae and Mark Ertel wrote in a statement that the allegations made in the ITO have not been tested in court, and do "not paint a full and accurate picture" of what happened.
The allegations may not ever be heard in court. The investigation into whether criminal negligence causing death and bodily harm may have been committed is ongoing, but to date Greene has not been charged with any crime.
'Wanton & reckless'
One of the alleged acts of negligence was Eastway failing to ground and bond the truck that exploded — a standard recommended precaution that prevents sparks and dissipates static charge into the ground, according to the ITO.
An employee told police grounding and bonding wasn't done at Eastway, the ITO states. Cathcart called it "a marked and substantial departure from the duty of care expected from Eastway."
A Ministry of Labour forensic engineer told police that grounding and bonding "would have likely prevented this tragedy," Cathcart wrote.
When the ministry charged Eastway and Greene with regulatory provincial offences in 2023, the lack of grounding and bonding was among the allegations made.
However, when Eastway and Greene pleaded guilty in April to those offences, grounding and bonding was not included in the agreed statement of facts.
A report by the Ontario Fire Marshal "could not establish a specific ignition source," the statement of facts reads. Multiple sources were considered, "including, but not limited to, electrical ignition, mechanical spark, and/or human-generated status ignition."
Other acts of negligence alleged in the ITO include:
- Building the truck that exploded with some used parts that were not properly cleaned of flammable liquids, and that a lack of "clearly defined cleaning and verification protocols … [caused] a reckless attitude toward safety," Cathcart wrote.
- A lack of written procedures for various tests done.
- Using coloured diesel to flush out gasoline from tanks, and using the colour to determine when gasoline was no longer present.
- Diluting tanks of diesel contaminated with gasoline by adding more diesel, instead of disposing of the contents of the tank.
- Monitoring contamination inconsistently.
- One witness said only two people were trained to use a piece of equipment used to test for fuel contamination.
- An employee working on a different truck on the day of the explosion told police he used his sense of smell to verify what had been inside its tank.
Cathcart wrote that Eastway's actions, decisions and omissions were "contrary to established regulations and best practices in the industry," and constitute "wanton & reckless disregard for the lives and safety of the employees at Eastway."
Training was minimal, mostly shadowing: Employees
The ITO also contains details that witnesses in the case, mainly employees, shared with police.
One employee who had worked at Eastway for six years said training was "minimal," Cathcart wrote. They also said the workplace felt "dangerous and intimidating" when they started, but that the feeling lessened over time.
Another employee who had worked at Eastway for seven years said a man was hired who "immediately sought to improve safety at the business." The investigative team found and interviewed that former employee.
Cathcart wrote that the man had improved safety training and working conditions during his tenure at Eastway, which began in 2016. He was terminated in 2019 for reasons not spelled out in the ITO.
This information was significant enough to police that Cathcart successfully asked a judge to expand the investigation by more than five years, "to establish the level/culture of safety at Eastway" prior to, during and after the man's time at the company.
Other employees told police they were mostly trained by shadowing senior employees, and that while they believed there were written policies and procedures somewhere, they'd never seen them, Cathcart wrote.
One of the employees who said he'd never seen the policies and procedures had been designated a quality control manager at Eastway, according to the ITO.
Transport Canada's team lead in the regulatory affairs branch for highway tanks told police the quality control manager was "woefully unqualified and inexperienced for that role," Cathcart wrote.
In addition, Cathcart wrote that Greene's lawyers had already deposed many if not all of the witnesses. One witness, an employee, declined to be interviewed by police because she'd been warned she might be criminally liable for the explosion, he wrote.
Return of seized material no longer sought
Meanwhile, Greene's defence team is still trying to get before a judge to argue that police didn't have grounds to believe an offence may have occurred when they filed production orders and search warrants, and that Greene's Charter rights were violated.
But the defence has abandoned its bid to get all the data and documents seized by police returned to Greene, and to stop police from using anything they seized.
That comes as a relief to Louise Martel, the partner of Rick Bastien, who died in the explosion.
"I hope that's going to help the case to go forward, not backward, because it's been three years," Martel said. "We want answers. We want justice."
A judge is now deciding whether it's in the interests of justice for the rest of Greene's application to move forward.
As well, a search of boxes of seized documents for information protected by solicitor-client privilege is ongoing.
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