Picton Cement Facility Penalized $190K After 2021 Gas Explosion Injures Workers

A cement manufacturing facility in Picton, Ontario has been ordered to pay $190,000 after a natural gas explosion injured three workers during maintenance operations in 2021.

Lehigh Cement Limited, now operating as Heidelberg Materials Canada Limited, pleaded guilty in Provincial Offences Court in Belleville to failing to adequately protect workers under Ontario’s Occupational Health and Safety Act.

Incident Details

The explosion occurred on September 7, 2021, at the cement plant located at 1370 Highway 49 in Picton, while contracted maintenance workers were servicing a cement kiln.

At the time, the kiln was being transitioned from coal dust fuel to natural gas to allow workers to replace a component in the coal feed system known as the jet air blower. This process required shutting down a swirl air fan, which was designed with two safety valves intended to prevent natural gas from flowing backward into the coal system.

Although only one valve needed to be fully closed to block gas flow, one of the valves failed to shut. Instead of stopping the fuel changeover, a Lehigh Cement electrician manually overrode the valve signal, making it appear closed in the computer system. A second electrician later overrode the signal for the remaining valve as well.

As a result, natural gas entered the maintenance area, accumulated, and ignited, causing a flash fire.

Worker Injuries

The explosion injured three workers. Two were airlifted to a Toronto hospital, while the third was treated and released locally in Picton.

Court Ruling and Penalty

Justice of the Peace Deanne L. Chapelle ruled that the company failed to take every reasonable precaution to protect workers, violating section 25(2)(h) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

In addition to the $190,000 fine, the court imposed a mandatory 25 per cent victim fine surcharge, which will be directed to a provincial fund supporting victims of crime. The prosecution was led by Crown Counsel Wes Wilson.

The Ontario Court Bulletin emphasized that a reasonable safety measure would have been to ensure both valves were fully closed before allowing natural gas into the system, a step that was not taken.