‘A long two years’
Family of Scotchtown man killed in Alberta accident pleased employer is facing charges
Sitting on a sofa with two of his three remaining sons, Michael Williams tears up while talking about his late son Dave.
“We just miss him being here — the void will never be filled,” said the 57-year-old Williams, whose family hails from the Cape Breton community of Scotchtown, bordering the former coalmining town of New Waterford.
“He was always smiling, he’d do anything for anybody, he was just the kind of guy that made everybody smile and he was smart, yeah.”
For the Williams family, this holiday season marks the second Christmas without Dave, a 30-year-old millwright who died from injuries he suffered in an explosion at the Long Lake oil sands upgrader facility, 40 km southeast of Fort McMurray, on Jan. 15, 2016. Williams, who was transferred to the University of Alberta Hospital’s burn unit, died 10 days later.
The accident also claimed the life of 52-year-old Drew Foster.
For the better part of the past two years, the Williams family has been upset with Nexen Energy, the Calgary-based company that operates the facility that has been shut down since the explosion. They say that following a Nexen-conducted investigation
it seemed to them that the Chinese-owned company was placing blame for the accident on the victims. In July of 2016, company officials publically stated that the men were operating outside the scope of their approved work activities. The explosion happened in a hydrogen compressor building where the employees were said to be refitting the valves on a hydrocracker unit.
“It was disrespectful, it was wrong — Dave was all about safety, he wouldn’t have been doing something he shouldn’t have been doing,” said Archie, the youngest of the Williams boys, who questioned the thoroughness of an investigation that lasted less than two months.
“Were they trying to hide something? A two-month investigation and that’s it? That it was the employees’ fault and now it’s over with?”
The family received some better news just before Christmas when it learned an investigation carried out by Alberta Occupational Health and Safety had finally led to charges against Nexen.
The company is due in Fort McMurray provincial court on Feb. 14, 2018 to face the following eight charges:
• Two counts of failure to ensure the health and safety of a worker.
• Two counts of failure to ensure all workers were familiar with procedures and measures implemented at the work site.
• Four counts of failure to ensure equipment was serviced, maintained, repaired or dismantled in accordance with specifications by a certified engineer or the manufacturer.
Michael Williams said that while the family realizes the outcome of the legal action against Nexen won’t bring Dave back, it does give them some vindication in light of the way they feel the company portrayed him.
“It’s been a long two years and it still just hurts so much,” said Williams, who worked with his son at the northern Alberta facility.
“At least now it is going in the right direction, it’s a step forward — we don’t know the outcome, but time will tell.”
Williams said the ordeal has taken a toll on the family, both mentally and physically.
“Both my wife and I are having health issues and I am sure it’s all related to the stress surrounding all of this,” he said.
Following Dave’s death, the family cleared out his Fort McMurray home only to learn that the house was later destroyed in the wildfires that began in May 2016.
Meanwhile, Nexen is also facing charges after a pipeline ruptured near the Long Lake facility, resulting in a spill of more than five million litres of emulsion.
The company also made news earlier this year when it was turned down after requesting more than $19 million in tax relief from the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo.