B.C.'s Criminal Justice Branch will not approve criminal or regulatory charges in relation to a deadly fire and explosion at a B.C. sawmill, in part because of problems with the way WorkSafeBC handled the investigation.
The disaster at Babine Forest Products' sawmill in Burns Lake killed two workers and injured 20, and was followed by a similar fire and explosion at Lakeland Sawmill in Prince George in April 2012, which killed two workers and injured 22 others.
In November 2012, WorkSafeBC announced it would refer evidence to Crown prosecutors from both investigations to Crown prosecutors.
It took until September 2013 for WorkSafeBC to compile its report and submit it to the Criminal Justice Branch.
In a statement detailing the reasons for its decision, the Criminal Justice Branch said that the way in which WorkSafeBC conducted its investigation made some of the collected evidence inadmissible in court.
"WSBC's examination of the fire site, and the related inquiries, were all conducted as a safety-compliance inspection rather than as an investigation into possible criminal or regulatory enforcement," reads the statement.
"Thus, for example, WSBC did not obtain a search warrant authorizing search and seizure at the Babine site, even after its officers formed reasonable grounds to believe Babine had violated the WCA and OHSR.
"Similarly, when officers interviewed the president of Babine, they did not provide him with any Charter of Rights warning or caution."
The Criminal Justice Branch said the evidence it received from WorkSafeBC did not show that Babine Forest Products failed to take steps to clean up sawmill dust.
"While we are pleased no criminal or regulatory charges will be approved by Crown Counsel, we never will forget the terrible tragedy and the resulting effects on our employees, their families and the community of Burns Lake," Steve Zika, CEO of Hampton Affiliates, which owned the mill, said in a prepared statement.
"We have done our best in the aftermath to care for our affected employees and their families and mitigate the impact on the community."
Zika said the rebuilt Babine sawmill will start up in early February.
WorkSafeBC inspection reports show that inspectors had flagged "hazardous amounts of wood dust" at the mill as recently as February 2012.
Lab test results released by WorkSafeBC in April 2012 showed that very dry dust from pine beetle-killed lumber could be more explosive than other kinds of wood dust.
