Freshwater Fish Marketing Corp. sues steel firm after explosion

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This article was published 23/04/2024 (887 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

THE Freshwater Fish Marketing Corp., is suing a Selkirk steel company for millions of dollars over an explosion and fire on a barge that caused significant damage and hampered the Crown corporation’s operations.

Lawyer Michael J. Bailey, of Toronto firm Cozen O’Connor LLP, filed the lawsuit in the Court of King’s Bench on April 15 on behalf of the Winnipeg-based corporation, naming Selkirk Machine Works Ltd., a steel fabrication and welding firm, as defendant.

The lawsuit seeks $5.7 million in damages from the steel fabricator, plus pre-and-post judgment interest and court costs.

The Selkirk steel fabricator has not yet filed a statement of defence in response. Chris Fisher, owner of Selkirk Machine Works, said as of Monday the company had not been served notice of the lawsuit.

The explosion occurred on May 6, 2022, while the Selkirk company was conducting winter maintenance on the MV Poplar River at a dry dock on Lake Winnipeg, at the Department of Fisheries and Oceans harbour in Hnausa, about 120 kilometres north of Winnipeg.

No one was seriously injured, according to the federal fisheries department and the Riverton-Bifrost Fire Department, which responded to the explosion and blaze.

The barge, which was out of commission until last May, is used to collect and transport commercially caught fish from remote Indigenous communities on Lake Winnipeg to market. The explosion and fire also damaged a small workshop owned by the corporation.

Among the maintenance conducted on the barge was steelwork in a wing ballast tank and port side shell plates by employees of Selkirk Machine Works, according to the court filing.

The court papers allege that while workers were fairing — or smoothing — steel plates adjacent to an empty diesel tank, vapours in the tank exploded, affecting the barge’s hull and deck, and leaking 500 litres of diesel into the dry dock and Lake Winnipeg.

The Crown corporation alleges the explosion was caused by “the inadequate and improper work” of the Selkirk steel fabricator. It alleges the Selkirk firm is liable for negligence, breach of contract and breach of duty of care, and for its employees’ acts.

The documents claim the workers failed to take appropriate precautions to prevent welding sparks and slag from igniting combustible materials, among other alleged failures.

The diesel leak was reported to the Manitoba Environment department’s emergency response team, the Riverton-Bifrost Fire Department said at the time. The local fire and fisheries departments said in 2022 that crews had worked to contain the spill.

A provincial spokesperson said an environment officer attended the site to provide direction for cleanup, but had no other information to provide on Monday.

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans said at the time it was working with its partners to ensure the site was secured and an “appropriate remediation plan” was implemented.

Rachel Jones, a spokeswoman for the fisheries department, was unable to provide an update on the investigation into the incident and the remediation plan on Monday.

The steel company owed the Crown corporation a duty of care to ensure they carried out the welding properly, the court filing claims.

The Freshwater Fish Marketing Corp., said it incurred costs responding to, investigating and remediating the explosion. The court papers claim the corporation lost profits as a result of the barge being unavailable to collect fish and incurred costs refurbishing the barge to make it seaworthy.

The explosion also increased payroll costs and interrupted business, the court claim alleges.

The damages, the court filing says, meet or exceed $5.7 million.

The federal Crown corporation buys fish from remote areas across the Prairies, including many Lake Winnipeg communities, then processes it and sells to restaurants and grocery stores worldwide.

The corporation’s CEO, Stan Lazar, declined comment on the lawsuit Monday.

Lazar said in the corporation’s latest annual report that the incident had a larger impact on its performance than it initially anticipated.

“Despite the persistence and dedicated work of our FFMC team, livelihoods of fishers and the transportation of goods and resources to affected Lake Winnipeg communities that depend on our barge services suffered major setbacks,” Lazar wrote.

The annual report noted fish deliveries were 900,000 kilograms lower than planned, with $30.7 million returned to fishers in the fiscal year, compared to a planned $31.1 million.

Depressed whitefish stocks and the loss of the barge’s ability to transport fish from the north basin of Lake Winnipeg were the primary contributors, the report said.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca