The owner of an Ottawa tanker-truck company is facing criminal charges for his alleged role in a 2022 explosion that killed six workers and seriously injured a seventh.
Ottawa police say 51-year-old Neil Greene is facing six counts of criminal negligence causing death and one count of criminal negligence causing bodily harm.
The criminal charges come a year after Greene and the company were convicted of provincial health and safety offences for allegedly failing to take reasonable precautions related to the blast.
The provincial case alleged that the January 2022 explosion was partly the result of test fuel used to check for leaks in newly built tanker trucks being contaminated with gasoline.
Following a guilty plea in that case, the company was fined $600,000 and Greene was fined $80,000.
Lawyers for Greene say in a statement that there’s no basis for criminal negligence charges and “public pressure is no substitute for evidence.”
The explosion killed Richard Bastien, Daniel Beale, Kayla Ferguson, Matthew Kearney, Etienne Mabiala and Russell McLellan.
Tanner Clement, now 36, was seriously injured.
Greene is expected to make his first court appearance on the charges next month.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2025.
