Ottawa·NewThe Ottawa Police Service laid criminal charges against Eastway owner Neil Greene on Thursday. Six employees died in a 2022 explosion at the family-run tank truck manufacturing business in Ottawa on Jan. 13, 2022. Family members of the deceased reacted to the charges on Thursday.Cousin of one dead worker finds herself ‘sitting with mixed emotions’CBC News · Posted: Sep 13, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 27 minutes agoJackie Beale, the fraternal twin sister of Danny Beale, one of the six workers who died after an explosion at Ottawa’s Eastway Tank, Pump and Meter in January 2022, holds her brother’s ashes in her Petawawa home on Sept. 12, 2025. The owner of Eastway now faces seven criminal charges in connection with the explosion. (CBC)The twin sister of one of the six workers killed in the 2022 explosion at Eastway Tank, Pump and Meter says the criminal charges now facing the company’s owner help bring her one step closer to reckoning with her brother’s death. “I don’t think I need closure necessarily, but I think … how I felt today was the most prominent moment of feeling more closure,” Jackie Beale said on Friday. The Ottawa Police Service laid criminal charges against Eastway owner Neil Greene on Thursday. The 54-year-old is facing six counts of criminal negligence causing death: one for Jackie Beale’s brother Danny Beale, plus another five for his Eastway coworkers Rick Bastien, Kayla Ferguson, Matt Kearney, Etienne Mabiala and Russell McLellan. Greene also faces one count of criminal negligence causing bodily harm to employee Tanner Clement.Clockwise from top left: Matt Kearney, Etienne Mabiala, Danny Beale, Rick Bastien, Russell McLellan and Kayla Ferguson were killed by the Eastway Tank explosion. (Submitted photos)Of the deceased victims, all but Kearney were killed in the blast itself at the family-run business off Merivale Road in south Ottawa on Jan. 13, 2022. Kearney died of his injuries in hospital the following day.In April 2024, Greene and the company each pleaded guilty under Ontario’s Occupational Health and Safety Act to failing to ensure that diesel fuel used for wet testing trucks was not contaminated with gasoline or any other flammable liquid or substance. (Wet testing involves loading a tanker with diesel or gasoline to calibrate equipment.)The criminal allegations made against Greene this week have not been tested in court. Investigators first seized evidence during a search warrant at Greene’s offices two years ago. The charges come after police mistakes, defence manoeuvres and ensuing legal battles brought the investigation to a halt for many months, and nearly derailed it completely.”Our position is that there never was and is not now evidence to justify criminal negligence allegations. Public pressure is not a substitute for evidence,” according to a statement from Greene’s lawyers. ‘A lot to channel into 1 person’Jackie Beale said even though it’s been more than three years since her fraternal twin brother’s death, the loss still lands with fresh force. “Just this morning, you kind of get hit again with kind of this realization of like, ‘Oh, this happened,'” she said. When it comes to the charges against Greene, Beale says she’s of two minds. “It’s a lot to channel into one person,” she said. “But then at the other side, it’s like, ‘Well, why isn’t he held accountable and responsible for this?’ Because who else is, right?”Jakie Beale poses with Beale and her daughter Olive. ‘The year has gone by fast and yet every day seems sadder than the last,’ Jackie said at the end of 2022. (Submitted by Mike Beale)Kayla Ferguson’s cousin Maria Ferguson declined to be interviewed, but pointed CBC to a public post she made on Facebook on Friday.”While I understand that many families might feel some sense of justice or relief, I find myself sitting with mixed emotions,” Ferguson wrote in the post. Greene has been “through hell” for nearly for four years.”And while nothing will ever undo the pain, the loss, and the impact this had on our lives, including my children growing up without their aunt, I can’t help but ask … was it really only the owner’s fault?”Beale said that if anyone from the other families is struggling, she hopes the ongoing legal process brings “some closure” for them.”They’re not alone,” she added. With files from Priscilla Ki Sun Hwang, Kristy Nease and Aya Dufour
Family members react to criminal charges against Eastway Tank owner
