3 companies charged after deaths of 2 workers in explosion on oil and gas site
CBC
Alberta Occupational Health and Safety has laid charges against three companies after two men died in an explosion at an oil and gas site north of Edmonton.
Greg Podulsky, 29, and Darcy Schwindt, 47, were killed on Nov. 12, 2022 while they were working at the Marten Hills site near the hamlet of Smith, about 200 kilometres north of Edmonton.
The charges were laid on May 9 against Tamarack Valley Energy of Calgary, Voltegic Energy Services of Athabasca and Peace Pipefitting of Wembley.
According to OHS's website, both men were welding on top of a tank when there was an explosion within a tank storage facility. Podulsky and Schwindt were fatally injured in the explosion.
All three companies have been charged with failing to ensure the health and safety of workers.
The charges include failing to ensure "hot work" — work that can start fires or explosions — was not begun until a work permit was issued, the area was free of combustible materials and testing had shown the atmosphere did not contain a flammable substance.
Brian Schmidt, president and CEO of Tamarack Energy, told CBC News on Thursday that he could not comment on the charges or what happened that day, but his company, and the other contractors, made changes to policies and procedures after the tragedy.
"We did some pretty significant work internally on our safety program and what we're doing here going forward," he said.
Voltegic Energy Services and Peace Pipefitting have not responded to requests for comment.
Schmidt said his thoughts are with both families and he has been communicating with them.
He said the workers' deaths have been difficult for everyone at Tamarack Energy, but their struggles pale in comparison to what both families have experienced.
"I can't imagine what they're going through," he said.
Charlene Nahamko, Podulsky's mother, said hearing about the companies' changes made her angry.
"People should not have to lose their lives for these changes to be made," she said.
Aggressive patients and lack of security are making nurses feel unsafe in a rural Western Manitoba emergency union, says the Manitoba Nurses Union.
Saskatoon resident Delynne Bortis knew her commute to work Tuesday morning would be particularly difficult.
WARNING: This story contains details of abuse and intimate partner violence:
The amount of money it takes for people to earn a living wage has increased across the province, according to a new report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).
The new owner of Ontario steelmaker Stelco says his company "will not disappoint the people of Hamilton and Nanticoke," where the business's major facilities are based.
A Winnipegger is warning others about an intricate scam she says she almost fell for.
Fort William First Nation is opposing a planned redevelopment of the Ontario Power Generation's (OPG) 117 year old Kakabeka Falls Generating Station, which is located in their traditional territory.
A building that sits at the corner of Sussex Street and Brunswick Avenue has had many lives over the last century — being a church, a school and offices. Now it's set to become housing, at a time when the city sorely needs it.
A Waterloo, Ont., elementary school principal will be sentenced in the new year after pleading guilty to child sexual exploitation charges following a joint investigation that involved the London, Toronto and Waterloo police services.
Students at UPEI have let their student union know what they want from the province this fiscal year, and those priorities are reflected in a 2024-2025 advocacy document brought to the legislature on Wednesday.
Larger communities in the N.W.T. will soon see a boost in their territorial funding to maintain infrastructure and deliver services — like water and waste management — but the increase still falls short of what communities need.