Local company charged after last year’s explosion

MORE THAN A year after the explosion at North York’s Sunrise Propane distribution plant, two charges have been laid against the company by the province’s ministry of labour. The company was charged with failing to protect the health and safety of a worker and failing to ensure that the facility was adhering to industry regulations.

The Technical Standards and Safety Authority (TSSA), the regulating body for propane in the province, has also been criticized.

“If the TSSA had been doing its job, this explosion wouldn’t have happened,” said Bob Huget, the Ontario vice-president of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada.

James Durling and his wife, Bice Amoroso-Durling, are two of the 3,000 people filing a class action suit against the company. Their Murray Road home suffered major damage from the explosion.

“With regards to the fines, it can only help the class action suit,” Durling said of the $500,000 fine, per charge, the company could face if they’re found guilty. The couple is also seeking compensation to rebuild their home after they say they had to tear down a section of it as a result of the explosion. They plan to submit a petition with approximately 500 signatures to the city soon.

On Aug. 10, 2008, a fire and explosion at the 54 Murray Rd. site caused the evacuation of more than 10,000 people and caused damage to property in close proximity to the plant. Two men were killed in the accident. Bob Leek, 55, was a firefighter who volunteered to fight the blaze the day of the explosion. Sunrise employee Parminder Singh Saini, 25, was also killed in the explosion.
 

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