Nunavut safety board says Mary River road unsafe at time of mine worker death
Truck driver killed last year named in court files as Tony Anker of Ontario
Court charges related to last year's death of a worker at the Mary River mine on Baffin Island, Nunavut, allege that the Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation failed to keep safe a main roadway used to haul iron ore.
Tony Anker was 63 when he died in a vehicle accident at Mary River on Dec. 16 of 2018.
His name was not public until the Workers' Safety and Compensation Commission filed 16 charges in the Nunavut Court of Justice on Dec. 5. He was from Ontario, and was employed by a subcontractor to drive a rock haul truck.
Those charges, accessed by CBC News, show that the fatality happened between a 105 kilometre and 108 kilometre mark along a main work road at the north Baffin Island iron ore mine.
Court documents say that conditions along that part of the road were unsafe at the time of Anker's accident.
Other charges say the mine operator failed to have correct signage along the road or in the truck about speeds, gear selection and payloads.
The safety board also says that the mine failed to train and supervise employees, and to keep its worksite healthy and safe as early as Aug. 30 of last year.
The mining company is being charged by the Workers' Safety and Compensation Commission for violating the Nunavut Mine Health and Safety Act.
These allegations have yet to be proven in court.
The Workers' Safety and Compensation Commission and Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation say they cannot comment further as the matter is before the courts.
Baffinland told CBC when the charges came out on Dec. 10 that it denies the allegations and plans to defend itself.
The first court date is on Jan. 9, 2020.