Nearly six months after an ammonia leak at a Lumber Bridge chicken plant killed one worker and injured three others, state regulators have cited Mountaire Farms of North Carolina with nearly two dozen workplace safety violations.
The new citations include 20 serious safety violations at the company's chicken processing plant near Fayetteville. The proposed fines total $73,325, The Charlotte Observer reported.
Among the citations: not ensuring that employees were properly fitted for respirators that were cleaned and disinfected.
Labor Department officials said the penalties are not designed to make up for the injuries suffered or the loss of life.
"We want to learn from the set of circumstances that led to this tragic accident with the ultimate goal of educating others so this type of accident does not occur again," Department of Labor officials said in a statement.
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Mountaire Farms officials said in a statement that the safety of employees is a top priority.
"We take any safety recommendation or violation seriously and are in the early stages of reviewing the response by North Carolina OSHA," the company said in a statement. "The company cooperated fully with authorities throughout the investigation and will work in close contact with North Carolina OSHA as additional safety measures are evaluated, recommended and implemented accordingly."
Shortly before 10 a.m. on June 20, ammonia gas began spewing from a ruptured hose. Fayetteville resident Clifton Swain was among about 30 of the plant's 2,500 workers who were inside at the time.
Four workers were hospitalized. Swain, 47, who worked at the plant since 2001, died. He left behind a wife, a son and four stepchildren.
"He was just a sweet, laid-back guy," his mother-in-law, Flora Bridgers of Charlotte, told the Observer. "He was too young to die."
The fatal ammonia leak highlights an ongoing problem in the poultry industry. Companies often store thousands of pounds of potentially dangerous chemicals to chill and process chicken and turkey. But some processors have not properly handled the risks, regulators have found.
At least five poultry workers have died since 2000 after being exposed to dangerous chemicals. Hundreds more have been hurt.
Hazardous chemical violations are among the most commonly cited safety problems in the industry.
Inspectors have cited poultry plants for more than 400 serious hazardous chemical violations since 1995.
