Six operators ordered closed; three have reopened

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A south Etobicoke gas station and a Scarborough U-Haul refill station are among six large propane operators across Ontario ordered to shut down this week after inspectors found employees who appeared to lack proper training.

Technical Standards and Safety Authority (TSSA) inspected about 150 of Ontario's biggest operators this week as part of an ongoing re-audit of the facilities in the wake of the devastating blast at Sunrise Propane in Downsview on Aug. 10. that killed two people.

"An audit was done and the inspector did not find they could produce sufficient documentation and evidence that their personnel is properly certified to dispense propane," TSSA spokesperson Dave Lisle said of the closure orders late yesterday.

The Etobicoke gas station, at 660 Evans Ave., is adjacent to Sherway Gardens and a hotel, and directly across the street from homes. The Scarborough facility is at 4095 Kingston Rd. between Markham Road and Lawrence Avenue East.

Lisle could not confirm whether the orders involved employees not certified to handle propane, or were related to operators' inability to produce sufficient documentation to prove employees' certification at the time of the audit.

"Our inspectors have to be satisfied that operators have the documentation, the people and the up-to-date training that goes along with that, and demonstrate that, to meet that requirement under the legislation," he said.

TSSA inspectors issued six 'cease and desist' orders in total, the other four to operators in Kitchener, Waterloo, Ottawa and Cornwall. The Kitchener, Waterloo and Ottawa operators had reopened by late yesterday, Lisle said.

Inspectors gave notice to the Etobicoke operator earlier this week, and to the Scarborough operator on Tuesday, Lisle said.

Operators are permitted to continue any business that isn't related to propane dispensing, he said.

The authority requires operators to keep propane storage facilities and equipment locked off behind a fence whenever an employee properly certified to dispense propane is not onsite, Lisle said.

The authority's re-audit of the major propane facilities in Ontario is expected to be completed today. Those facilities have propane storage capacities in excess of 5,000 U.S. water gallons (USWG).

Another 2,600 smaller facilities province-wide will be re-audited by the end of the year.

Sunrise Propane had a capacity of 4,200 USWG, but had applied to the TSSA a year ago to expand its storage by more than seven-fold to 30,000 USWG, TSSA spokesperson Prem Lal said this week.

Etobicoke is home to three of Toronto's large propane filling stations; two are gas stations, one is an autobody shop. All are owned by the same Etobicoke family. All three provide propane to taxis, limousines and for barbecues.

The operator at 660 Evans Ave. forced to shut down this week, was cited for the same deficiency in a 2005 inspection.

At that time, the operator did not have copies of all employees' certification to present to the inspector, "but all the workers who needed to be certified were appropriately certified," a TSSA spokesperson said in an e-mail earlier this week in response to The Guardian's request for a technical interpretation of five years' worth of inspection reports on the three Etobicoke propane filling stations.

The same 2005 inspection ordered the same operator to re-service an onsite fire extinguisher.

Despite numerous provincial safety code violations issued against all three Etobicoke operators in inspections in the past five years, those deficiencies were "not considered a high risk," the spokesperson said in the same e-mail.

Another Etobicoke operator, who runs Kipling Wash and Gas on Kipling Avenue, was cited in a 2006 inspector for not having a required fire extinguisher at the propane tank.

Violations cited against the three Etobicoke operators in the past five years include the lack of rain caps (made of neoprene) on relief valves, and prominently displayed 'no smoking/ignition off' signs.

In the case of the signs, one sign was cited as faded, another in need of more prominent lettering, the inspection reports indicate.