Third company schedule for sentencing this month in deaths of two workers
Two Alberta companies have been fined a combined $550,000 after pleading guilty to violating provincial occupational health and safety legislation in connection with a 2022 explosion that killed two welders at a tank storage facility north of Edmonton.
The incident happened on Nov. 12, 2022, at an oil and gas development in northern Alberta.Two workers were welding on top of a tank when an explosion occurred within a tank farm, according to the Alberta government.
The explosion claimed the lives of Greg Podulsky, 29, and Darcy Schwindt, 47, while the men were conducting work at the site operated by Tamarack.
According to CBC News, Tamarack Valley Energy Ltd. and Peace Pipefitting Inc. each admitted to a single count under Alberta’s Occupational Health and Safety Act during a court hearing last week in Slave Lake.
Justice Robert Marceau accepted a joint sentencing submission that included both fines and creative sentencing measures. Tamarack was ordered to pay $500,000, with the majority of that sum directed toward funding safety awareness and prevention programming through three organizations: CAREERS: The Next Generation Foundation, Energy Safety Canada, and Threads of Life, a national non-profit that supports families affected by workplace tragedy.
Peace Pipefitting Inc., the contract employer for the welders, received a $50,000 fine, of which $30,000 will be allocated to Threads of Life. The company is also subject to two years of enhanced regulatory supervision. CBC noted that Peace Pipefitting did not respond to requests for comment.
In an interview with CBC News, Tamarack CEO Brian Schmidt said the loss had deeply affected the company’s small workforce. He stated that Tamarack has provided support to the victims’ families, including through scholarships, and marked the one-year anniversary of the incident with a company-wide moment of silence.
“We changed their lives permanently,” Schmidt said, calling the tragedy the most difficult experience in the company’s history.
Schmidt also previously said that his company, and the other contractors, made changes to policies and procedures after the tragedy, according to a CBC report.
A third company, Voltegic Energy Services Ltd., which also faced charges related to the incident, is scheduled for sentencing on May 28. Charges against a fourth, unnamed numbered company were stayed last year, according to CBC.
