TSSA Propane Facility Inspections End This Week

Toronto, Ontario (AHN) - The Technical Standards and Safety Authority (TSSA) said by the end of this week it will complete inspections of all propane plants in Ontario with a permanent storage capacity more than 5,000 gallons.

Propane facility inspections were ordered by Harinder Takhar, Ontario's Minister of Consumer Services. Takhar requested the inspections after an Aug. 10 explosion at the Sunrise Propane and Industrial Gases facility. The incident affected more than 12,000 residents in Downsview. Other small-capacity propane operations will be inspected by year end, a TSSA spokesman said.

According to a letter by Sunrise Propane to the Toronto city government, the firm was on about to install a 30,000-gallon storage tank before the tragedy occurred. The tanks would have been seven times larger than the current one.

TSSA spokesman Dave Lisle, admitted that prior to the explosion, Sunrise's application for a larger tank was still pending. Sunrise paid TSSA a non-refundable $2,550 fee for the application.

Sunrise officials refused to comment on the company's application. In a statement, a Sunrise spokesman said, "Out of an abundance of caution and a desire for the investigatory process to unfold free of speculation and misinformation, we will not be making any further public comments at this time."