Politicians and union representatives in west Windsor are calling for action over health and safety concerns at Sterling Fuels.
Unifor Local 444 President Dino Chiodo says 32 recent recommendations from Windsor Fire and Rescue are far from what the company has described as "minor."
"When you're talking about initiatives where a fire truck can't get on the property, where they don't even have a fire plan, they don't have an evacuation plan," explains Chiodo. "They don't even have those [fuel] tanks with proper signage."
The large blue tanks on South St., which can be seen when driving down Sandwich St., contain up to 23-million litres of various fuels.
"If you think [the disaster in] Lac-Megantic [Quebec] was bad, this would be 10-times that size," says Chiodo. "So I'm trying to appeal, not only to the workers, but to Sterling Fuels. They need to get off their keister and figure out how they fix this situation."
The union boss was joined by Windsor West MP Brian Masse and MPP Lisa Gretzky, as well as Windsor City Councillor John Elliott outside of Sterling Fuels Monday morning.
The company has 60 days to comply with orders from Windsor Fire and Rescue, but Masse is calling on Minister of Transport Marc Garneau to visit the site immediately.
Sterling Fuels has since responded, saying, "We welcome meetings with any level of government that may result in enhancing the safety measures we are already taking."
The company adds, "Our concern is always the health and safety of our employees and the neighbourhood, and we are confident that the external health and safety engineering company we have hired will keep us on track. We share the concerns of the local politicians, which is why we spent over $1-million on improving plant safety and environmental protection over the last few years – and spending continues."
Updated after Sterling Fuels response at around 1:20pm, Monday.