The Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks announced Thursday that they have fined a trucking company more than $300,000 after a collision of one of their trucks caused 8,000 litres of acid to spill which doused and killed the driver.
According to the ministry, Titanium Trucking Services Inc. was convicted of one violation under the Environmental Protection Act and was fined $250,000 plus a victim fine surcharge of $62,500.
WATCH: One person dead, following massive crash on Hwy. 401 (March 14, 2017)
The incident occurred in March 2017 when a Burlington area company ordered more than 80,000 kg of fluorosilicic acid which is a corrosive liquid the government has classified as a dangerous good, according to a report by the ministry.
On the day the truck was scheduled to make the delivery, Environment Canada had issued a weather advisory related to a major winter storm, says the report, and the public was asked to consider postponing nonessential driving.
The truck departed despite the warning and within four hours after leaving Montreal, the truck and the driver were involved in a multi-vehicle collision while travelling westbound on Highway 401, according to the ministry’s report. The crash, which occurred just east of Kingston, forced the closure of both directions of Highway 401 between Mallorytown and Lansdowne.
As a result of the collision, 15 totes of fluorosilicic acid ejected through the front wall of the trailer and came to rest in the roadside ditch.
The ministry says that eight of those totes were punctured in the crash which doused the nearby area and the driver, resulting in his death later in hospital.
Due to the spill, first responders and members of the public at the scene had to be decontaminated and Highway 401 was closed in both directions for an extended period.
The OPP officer who initially attempted to get the driver out of the cab experienced significant health effects such as chemical burns. In addition, the ecosystem next to the road was significantly damaged by the acid.
The company has been given two years to pay the fine.
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