Ontario to release new propane safety regulations
08.11.2008 13:01
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- Source: cbc.ca
 This photo was taken from Canyon Avenue at 3:52 a.m. ET. (Submitted by Yuriy Nazarenko)Three months after a deadly explosion at the Sunrise Propane Industrial Gases plant in Downsview, the Ontario government is set to release recommendations for new safety regulations. One employee was killed in the blast and a firefighter died at the scene on Aug. 10. The early-morning accident forced the temporary relocation of about 12,000 people. In the aftermath, there were questions over why Sunrise was allowed to locate so close to a residential neighbourhood, and whether the Technical Standards and Safety Authority — the agency that approves such operations — was tough enough when it carried out inspections. More than half of the big propane facilities inspected by the TSSA in the wake of the Sunrise explosion failed to pass. In September, the province appointed two independent experts — Dr. Michael Birk, a professor at Queen's University, and Susana Katz, a professional engineer and former director and chief inspector for gas safety for the government of British Columbia — to look at all aspects of propane safety, including enforcement and inspection. The panel's recommendations will be released on Friday. Mark Winfield is a professor of environmental studies at Toronto's York University who has written three papers on the TSSA. He says he's concerned that the panel's report may not answer all the questions "about having moved these regulatory functions outside of government, where they escape normal oversight." Winfield says the auditor general should be allowed to look into the TSSA and it should be subject to the province's freedom-of-information legislation. Consumer HeadlinesMaple Leaf CEO's memos to workers give glimpse of struggles with listeriaWeeks before the word listeria became a common term across Canada, the company at the centre of it was struggling with "belt-tightening" amid a "massive change period," according to memos written by the head of Maple Leaf Foods.Interview with Maple Leaf President Michael McCaintranscript Maple Leaf Michael McCainCFIA to launch new listeria testing protocolsCanada's food watchdog says it will impose more stringent regulations that force food companies across the country to test their deli meats for listeria. Niagara restaurant reopens in E. coli outbreakFewer cases of E. coli are under investigation in Ontario's Niagara Region, where a restaurant linked to the outbreak has reopened, health officials announced Friday.Cold medication discovered in Halloween candyPolice in southern Ontario are sounding the alarm after cold medication was discovered in several boxes of Halloween candy handed out to children. Consumer Life FeaturesENERGYElectric trucksVancouver's Envia aims to energize fleet vehicles RELATIONSHIPSEconomyEight threats to marriage in an economic downturnSAFETYRecalls and AdvisoriesBLOGFood BytesTightening the belt before dinnerIN DEPTHPersonal financeWhat to do when you can't pay your billsCOMM-ODDITIESLuxuryBangkok hotel dishes out million-dollar mealPeople who read this also read …
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