APM Constructions Services Inc. has been fined $75,000 under the Occupational Health and Safety Act for its part in the 2015 gas explosion in Canmore.

Judge L. W. Robertson gave his written decision in the Calgary courthouse on Wednesday (Jan. 22) afternoon after accepting the joint submission from the Crown prosecutor and defence team requesting the fine be $75,000 inclusive of a 15 per cent victim fine surcharge.

“Miraculously, no deaths or injuries resulted as the interior of the home was unoccupied at the time. This was through pure luck, not good management,” the Judge wrote in his decision.

The explosion that registered a 1.1 on the closest Richter scale approximately 80 kilometres south of Calgary, occurred in June 2015 in Canmore during the expansion project of the Bow River Seniors Home when a sub-contractor worker hit an ATCO gas line.

The methane gas travelled underground into a nearby home filling the basement until it found an ignition source and exploded resulting in complete demolition of the house and affecting approximately a dozen others in the neighbourhood. Some families from the street were displaced for about a year and there was also a $6.4 million property assessment loss noted on the 13th Street properties the following year.

“I accept that real harm and financial loss occurred in the wake of this incident. Innocent people were displaced from their dwellings. Many live with the harsh reality that they were very nearly killed by the subsequent explosion. Treasured items were lost, things that were irreplaceable through the insurance process … The fear and anxiety affecting those who witnessed the explosion and miraculously escaped its reach will undoubtedly haunt them for years to come,” the Judge wrote. 

While victim impact statements were deemed inadmissible by the Judge, as the conviction was under the OHS act and code, Robertson noted he did read the victim and community impact statements and used the documents as background.

He also noted the guilty plea from APM Construction under the Occupational Health and Safety Act, Safety Code, is not making an admission of liability for the rupture of the gas line, or the resulting explosion. 

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