TORONTO - Enbridge Gas Distribution Inc. has been ordered to pay a $700,000 fine in connection with a gas explosion that killed seven Toronto-area residents eight years ago.
A second firm, Precision Utility, was fined $200,000 and both companies were also levied a 25 per cent victim surcharge that goes toward a provincial fund to help victims of crime.
The explosion that gutted a strip mall in Etobicoke in April 2003 was caused by a backhoe hitting a gas line.
It was the deadliest pipeline incident in Canadian history.
Enbridge had contracted Precision Utility to locate underground natural gas pipelines along a nearby construction area.
A Ministry of Labour investigation found the Precision worker didn't use all available records and didn't act on visual clues to the presence of gas.
And Enbridge pleaded guilty to failing to ensure gas services in the area were accurately located before excavation began.
The excavator on the project, Warren Bitulithic Ltd., pleaded guilty in 2006 and was fined $225,000.
