Owners must prove Come By Chance refinery is safe before workers return, union says
6 people remain in hospital, with some in intensive care
A union representing most workers at the Come By Chance refinery says its members won't return to the construction site until an investigation into Friday's flash fire is completed, regardless of how long it takes.
"They won't go back on that site until we know what caused [the explosion]," said Glenn Nolan, president of United Steelworkers Local 9316, on Tuesday afternoon.
Nolan painted a picture of a normal day at the refinery, with steelworkers, carpenters and other tradespeople going about their assigned tasks on a Friday afternoon before a long weekend. The plant's new owner and operator, Braya Renewable Fuels, says it employs more than 600 people, who are contracted to turn the former oil refinery into a biofuels factory.
Friday's explosion in Unit 13, one of the refinery's busiest areas, sent eight people to hospital in Clarenville. Five of those workers were later airlifted to the Health Sciences Centre in St. John's, while two had been released from hospital as of Monday.
Nolan said he's been at the hospital daily, visiting workers who remain seriously injured and in intensive care.
"At the end of the day, we're all family," he said. "We're all hurt."
WATCH: A timeline of the Come By Chance explosion and the aftermath
Nolan said he's heard some safety complaints from workers in recent weeks and until now, overall, he was satisfied with the way Braya had been operating its renovation of the facility.
But now, he said, union members won't return to the site until Braya has proven it has discovered and fixed its source.
"I want this paused until the investigation is done.… I don't care if it's this week, next week, next month. At the end of the day we have to know what happened," he said.
"If the investigation goes on for months … it'll go on for months. It's about the workers. It's about their safety."
Service N.L. said in a statement Tuesday that a stop work order has been issued "on all work in the processing area of the refinery until the root cause is determined, and all investigative parties are satisfied that appropriate corrective measures have been put in place."
"There's always a danger when you're working in the environment that we work in. There has to be procedures followed, there has to be a structured and permanent system," Nolan said.
"It was unsafe that day, for whatever reason.… I want to know why."
Nolan declined to comment in detail on the workers' injuries, but noted some are in intensive care.
"A lot of people are traumatized," he said.
"I hope everybody survives.… We're waiting for everybody to be healed and out of that hospital. That's what the prayers are for and that's why we keep praying."
With files from Terry Roberts and Garrett Barry