Lori Paris reports on Toronto taking over the cleanup of the propane explosion site

The City of Toronto has taken over the complete cleanup following the propane explosion almost three weeks ago.

Listen to Lori Paris' Report

With the city taking over the site cleanup, after taking over the recovery of the surrounding area, Mayor David Millers says for the moment, the city has shouldered the responsibility, and the cost, of the entire project.

"We have legal rights under the Spills provisions under the Environmental Protection Act of Ontario, against Sunrise and against the owner of the site. We of course will be pursuing our legal remedies as appropriate."

The Ministry of the Environment had ordered Sunrise and the property owners to hire a consultant and put together plans for securing and cleaning the site, but Ontario Fire Marshal (OFM) Patrick Burke says that has not been done.

"To date, Sunrise hasn't done anything to clean up the site."

Burke says his office will be taking over the site, and will work on removing the containers that still contain propane. 

As to a possible cause of the blast?

"To date, the cause of the explosion has not been determined. Our investigative team is still compiling information witness statements, and will be pouring over those in the next few weeks to try and determine what the cause of the fire was. Exhibits were taken during the investigation, and they'll be examined at a later date by the OFM and other investigative agencies, including the Centre for Forensic Sciences and the TSSA."