The most recent charge—with a proposed penalty of $153,057--is in addition to a penalty of $1.025 million the company paid in May for similar violations of the Clean Water Act.
The Georgia-based company has been cited for having no written procedures for formaldehyde process equipment, engineering controls not implemented for overexposure to dust, and exposing employees to dust two-and-a-half to 20 times the permissible exposure limit, among other violations.
The agency's inspection found that the facility, which uses large amounts of anhydrous ammonia in its refrigeration system, had not conducted a proper evaluation of hazards and that standard operating procedures were either incomplete or had not been developed for all system activities, among other things.
The February 2008 explosion and fire at the Imperial Sugar refinery in Georgia sparked attention and concern about combustible dusts. The company's computer-based training teaches workers about dust, food safety, emergency preparedness, and heat stress.
"The sizable fines proposed here reflect the gravity of this employer's ongoing failure to correct clear and recognized hazards that could result in burns, crushing injuries, or death for its employees," said Arthur Dube, OSHA's area director in Buffalo, N.Y.
"We believe that this agreement represents a fair and just resolution of this matter and, hopefully, will serve as a warning to all businesses that generate wastewater that they must abide by all requirements of their discharge permits," said U.S. Attorney Nora R. Dannehy.
According to DOJ, the company's six plants in the state are illegally emitting massive amounts of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, and particulate matter.
OSHA issued about $1 million in fines against two of the companies that were charged in the Aug. 27 indictment, which was announced the following day by U.S. Attorney David Gaouette, shown here.
"One wrong step can end a worker's career or life," said Kay Gee, OSHA's acting area director in Manhattan. "We want to emphasize to all contractors the importance of supplying effective fall protection safeguards and training to their workers."
The greatest potential hazard from a leaking underground storage tank is that the petroleum or other hazardous substances might seep into the soil and contaminate groundwater, the source of drinking water for nearly one-third of all Americans, the agency noted.
An agency inspection identified dozens of instances throughout the plant where workers were exposed to possible lacerations, amputation, and crushing injuries from unguarded moving parts of mechanical power presses and other machinery as well as a lack of specific procedures to prevent the accidental startup of numerous machines during set-up, maintenance, and repair.
Company officials announced Aug. 26 that the Institute, W.Va., plant will reduce its average inventory of highly toxic methyl isocyanate by 80 percent.
"We will be creating a new experimental platform here at WPI that will allow us to look at the mechanics of fire phenomenon," said award recipient Ali Rangwala. "We will be carrying out experiments that have never been attempted before."
Managers at the cited companies in Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi "have displayed a systemic indifference to the safety and health of their own employees, resulting in a dangerous work environment," said Cindy Coe, OSHA's regional administrator in Atlanta.
Federal law requires that any facility with more than 1,320 gallons of aboveground oil storage capacity and meeting certain other criteria must develop and implement SPCC plans to prevent and contain spills. EPA says it will continue to pay unannounced visits to such facilities throughout the region.
According to EPA, in 2008, approximately 2,400 companies in the state filed their 2007 biennial hazardous waste reports. These seven did not. The deadline for filing the 2009 report is March 1, 2010.
Among the citations contributing to the proposed penalties totaling $133,000, the firm is charged with two willful violations for failing to electrically test rubber insulated gloves at intervals not exceeding six months and failing to ensure that workers do not approach energized electrical equipment closer than two feet.
"The safety of workers operating bag conversion machines should not be compromised due to avoidable hazards," said Mark Stelmack, director of OSHA's area office in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., where the investigation was initiated after a complaint was received.
DOJ says that once the switch is done, the R.E. Burger plant will be the largest coal-fired electric utility plant in the country to repower with renewable fuels and the first such plant at which greenhouse gas emissions will be reduced under a Clean Air Act consent decree.
The interactive game, designed by ASSE members and free to the public, is designed to help teens stay safe at work and illustrate how SH&E professionals contribute to that effort.