Co-op refinery fined $280,000 for 2011 explosion

REGINA – The Consumers’ Co-op Refinery will pay two thirds of the maximum fine, plus an 80 thousand dollar surcharge for an Occupational Health and Safety charge of “failure to supervise” in the 2011 explosion which injured more than 50 people.

The company pleaded guilty to the charge in January; four other charges were dropped.

On Tuesday, the prosecution read out three of 12 emotional victim impact statements. The judge heard how former employees were physically, financially and psychologically affected by the Thanksgiving explosion.

“I trusted I would be safe,” Vasiharabhas Subramanayam, a unionized pipe-fitter wrote in his statement before detailing the headaches, flashbacks, nightmares and increased drinking he suffers to this day.

“I was on medication and then I stopped and then when I took too much medication I can’t go to work … then I started to get drunk, drink alcohol,” he explained outside the courthouse.

The judge accepted a joint submission; the refinery will pay $280,000.

The defense said the 2011 explosion was regrettable, but not due to any attempt to cut costs.

“It was no fault of recent nature, or recent employees. It was something done by a contractor in 1961,” said lawyer Ron Gates.

“The purpose of these offences is not to punish past conduct, but to promote future compliance,” said crown prosecutor Michael Segu.

Irene Rombaut’s face was severely burned in the explosion and she still suffers physical pain. She fears for family members who still work there.

“There was another fire at the refinery (Monday),” she said. “It’s like it just keeps happening. And maybe this time someone didn’t get hurt, but sooner or later somebody will.”

Sean Tucker, a University of Regina business administration associate professor and OH&S researcher who attended the afternoon’s proceedings said: “I think the elephant in the courtroom today was the 2013 Christmas Eve explosion, which fortunately did not result in any injuries to workers and because of that there was no investigation by the OH&S division.”

Tucker said the refinery needs to open its doors to media in order to allay fears about safety on site.

The maximum penalty facing the refinery was $300,000. Fines have been increased since 2011. Today the maximum fine is $1.5 million.

The refinery has two months to pay the fine.

The lawyer for the victims involved in the 2011 Co-Op Refinery explosion sent out the following statement on behalf of his clients.

My clients are deeply disappointed by the lenient charges and sentence against the Coop Refinery. After severely injuring 52 workers in the 2011 explosion, the only sanction was a $280,000 fine, which is about 0.038% of its 2014 profits. Further, despite widespread reports that a poor culture of safety prevailed at the Refinery when the explosion happened, the sentencing was based on the mistaken idea that the incident resulted from a contractor’s error from the 1960’s. The explosion was the result of more recent misconduct at the facility that experienced dozens of fires, gas spills, and explosions over the past four years alone.

My clients have identified many individuals who have claimed that safety alarms were removed or not properly installed. These individuals can attest to how the Refinery constantly ignored workers’ complaints about safety before the explosion. None of this appears to have been investigated or accounted for in the OH&S prosecution. My clients have provided this information to the Regina Police Chief, T. Hagen. We expect that a rigorous investigation will provide the basis of further charges against the Refinery and other parties who have escaped accountability so far. The full story is still untold and justice is still pending. It will be delivered if Police Chief T. Hagen and the Regina Police Service fully investigate the leads we have provided them.