The Baileyville mill where a chemical release killed two young workers last winter did not have adequate safety measures in place, according to a preliminary investigative update released Tuesday by federal officials.
The update follows a roughly five month investigation and is the most detailed explanation yet as to what caused the fatal chemical release at Woodland Pulp’s bleach plant in Washington County. The incident claimed the lives of a University of Maine college student and a rising chemical engineer, and injured an additional 10 employees who were also exposed to the toxic gas.
The cause of the gas exposure was traced to the previous day, when managers decided to shut down most of the mill due to high operating costs that followed a rise in the price of natural gas. The shutdown included the operation of a fan that normally would remove hydrogen sulfide from inside the mill before it can accumulate inside the building. Without the scrubber fan, the toxic gas accumulated inside an acid sewer pipe and escaped through piping to other areas of the building, where Malcolm and Hornberger were later found.
Kasie Malcolm, 20, and Allen Hornberger, 26, weren’t provided personal hydrogen sulfide monitors that would have alerted them to the toxic gas exposure, which Maine’s medical examiner’s office said caused their deaths. Hydrogen sulfide detectors were also not installed in the building where they were working, and the company did not keep track of people in the building at the time of the Jan. 27 incident, according to the U.S. Chemical Safety Board Chairperson Steve Owens.
“Although our investigation is still ongoing, it already is clear that this terrible tragedy should never have happened,” Owens said. “The two young employees who died were not provided with personal hydrogen sulfide monitors that would have alerted them to the presence of the toxic gas, and there were no hydrogen sulfide detectors installed in the building where the release occurred. “
Malcolm, who died the day after the incident, and Hornberger, who died in mid-February after spending roughly two weeks on life support, were found around 6:15 p.m., hours after the gas was first detected and the mill initiated emergency protocols.
The report estimates they were likely exposed to over 500 parts per million of hydrogen sulfide gas. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the third federal agency that is investigating the deaths, sets an acceptable exposure limit of 20 ppm, but any concentration at or above 100 ppm is “immediately dangerous to life and health,” the report says.
Woodland Pulp did not keep track of who was in the building or where they were when the gas exposure was detected, the report said.
“Our investigation update notes that Woodland Pulp was aware of the hazards associated with hydrogen sulfide gas forming in the acid sewer piping, but despite this knowledge, the company did not have adequate systems in place to monitor or mitigate the hazards,” CSB board member Sylvia Johnson said. “This safety gap likely led to the severity of this tragic incident.”
The agency’s report said Woodland Pulp, which has been owned by International Grant Investment Corp. since 2010, had no ventilation system for the Kraft Mill building — where Malcolm and Hornberger were working on a project unrelated to the shutdown. The company did not require employees to use personal hydrogen sulfide monitors, the report said.
Scott Beal, a spokesperson for Woodland Pulp, declined to comment when contacted by the Bangor Daily News on Tuesday, noting he had not yet seen the investigation update.
“In addition to the fatalities and injuries, the property damage from the incident, which includes loss of use, exceeded $16 million,” according to the report.
CSB is a nonregulatory federal agency responsible for investigating incidents that involve the release of very hazardous substances. OSHA has not issued an update on its review of the incident. The Environmental Protections Agency and Maine Department of Environmental Protection have also opened investigations into the incident, according to Elizabeth Kayatta, attorney for the Malcolm and Hornberger families.
“The Chemical Safety Board’s update is clear: neither Kasie nor Allen had anything to do with causing the toxic gas release,” Kayatta told the BDN in a written statement on Tuesday morning. “These two boys were casualties of a corporate culture that prioritized profits over people. Many questions still remain about the shocking disregard for safety that developed at Woodland Pulp while under the ownership of International Grand Investment Corporation.”