The Woodland Pulp paper mill in Baileyville knowingly put employees in dangerous situations this year, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
OSHA alleges that the company knew an emergency alarm system wasn’t working and that it didn’t activate during a Jan. 27 hydrogen sulfide leak that killed two employees.
OSHA also alleges Woodland Pulp stored wood pulp, which is combustible, near hydrogen peroxide tanks, knowing it was a safety hazard. The pulp and the chemical came into contact on March 7 and started a fire.
These are among the new details included in OSHA’s latest release of information on the two incidents. In July, the regulator announced proposed fines totaling nearly $800,000, but did not explain the justifications or specific citations. Now that information has been made public on OSHA’s website.
“The alleged violations show that the company knew and chose not to protect their employees under the OSHA laws and regulations,” said Paul Cyr, a retired investigator based in Maine who was one of OSHA’s national experts in forest products industries.
Woodland Pulp has contested OSHA’s findings and the proposed penalties but did not provide further comment. Cyr said it can take months to finalize the citations and penalties, and the issue will be decided by an administrative judge.
In total, OSHA issued eight “serious” citations and four “willful” citations — the latter of which is its highest category. Most of them relate to the Jan. 27 hydrogen sulfide leak that killed 20-year-old chemical engineering student intern Kasie Malcolm and 26-year-old engineer Allen Hornberger. OSHA proposed the maximum penalty of $165,514 for each of the willful citations.
The violations noted by OSHA include things not mentioned in the Chemical Safety Board’s initial findings on the fatal gas leak.
OSHA found the paper mill didn’t make sure employees who were part of the emergency response wore the appropriate devices to be able to breathe safely during an active release of hydrogen sulfide.
The agency also said the company did not include first aid procedures for chemical releases. That is listed as a serious citation, which Cyr said means OSHA did not find evidence that the company knew it was violating safety regulations. Woodland Pulp also did not ensure that four employees who were directed to stop a hydrogen sulfide release had received adequate training, OSHA said.
The Chemical Safety Board had faulted Woodland Pulp for several things, including not having fixed hydrogen sulfide monitors in the bleach plant where the workers were exposed, and not providing workers with personal gas monitors — something an employee union said it had been requesting for decades.
The deaths at Woodland Pulp last winter were the first from hydrogen sulfide in the paper industry anywhere in the U.S. in at least the last five years. However, hydrogen sulfide has killed dozens of people in other industries in that period. In Maine, it’s rare to die on the job in any industry, particularly from exposures to chemicals.
An attorney representing Malcolm’s mother and Hornberger’s parents noted the information OSHA has made public still doesn’t include the full investigative file. Once that’s available, “We will be able to make an informed decision about how best to pursue justice for these families,” Elizabeth Kayatta said. So far, they have not filed any lawsuits against Woodland Pulp or its owner, International Grand Investment Corporation.
The hefty fines proposed by OSHA also include a chemical leak that happened March 7 when Woodland Pulp was restarting its pulp production after the January incident. No one was injured and the facility wasn’t damaged, a spokesman said at the time.
More than 4,000 gallons of hydrogen peroxide at 50% concentration were accidentally released, came into contact with the wood pulp, and started a fire, OSHA said. It proposed the maximum $165,514 penalty for what it deemed to be a willful violation of chemical storage rules.
It issued an additional $16,550 fine for not adequately training employees to recognize a release of hydrogen peroxide.
The four total willful violations proposed by OSHA tell Cyr that Woodland Pulp most likely knew there were hazards and that people were exposed to them, and chose not to do anything.
When he first heard about the January gas leak, he said his experience taught him it was most likely predictable and preventable. Reading the violations OSHA outlined, he said if the judge upholds them, it turns out that unfortunately he was right.
This story was originally published by the Maine Trust for Local News. Rachel Estabrook can be reached at restabrook@metln.org.