OSHA decreases fines against Williams Olefins
The Associated PressDecember 30, 2014 Updated 1 hour ago
BATON ROUGE, La. — Federal
regulators have decreased fines assessed against Williams Olefins over a
June 2013 explosion at its plant in Ascension and Iberville parishes
that killed two and injured more than 100 people.
The Advocate reports (http://bit.ly/1wydy2n ) the reductions are part of a settlement between the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration and Williams that ended a challenge of six violations and related fines against the Tulsa, Oklahoma, company.
Early this year, Williams contested the violations with the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission, an independent board in Washington, D.C., that reviews challenged OSHA findings.
Among several changes brought by the settlement, OSHA agreed to reduce the most significant charge from a "willful" violation to a "serious" one and, in the process, appears to have ended the possibility that the agency could refer the case for a future criminal investigation.
The change from willful to serious violation also came with a reduction in Williams' fine for that violation from $70,000 to $7,000. As a result, Williams' combined the fines for the deadly explosion fell from $99,000 to $36,000, the settlement says.
OSHA and Williams also have reached a separate settlement on a seventh violation, deemed "serious," stemming from an incident three months after the deadly blast. The $7,000 fine for the violation is unchanged.
Juan Rodriguez, OSHA spokesman in Dallas, declined comment Monday on the settlements, but under OSHA rules, only a willful citation over an incident that involves the death of a worker brings the risk that OSHA could recommend a criminal investigation to federal prosecutors.
U.S. Attorney Walt Green said Monday that under U.S. Department of Justice policy, he cannot comment whether or not there is an investigation into the explosion.
Tom Droege, Williams spokesman, said the company has cooperated with OSHA in a full and transparent manner.
"These settlement agreements with OSHA bring closure to this phase of our post-incident recovery, and we continue to work diligently to further enhance safety at the Geismar plant and across our entire organization."
The Advocate reports (http://bit.ly/1wydy2n ) the reductions are part of a settlement between the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration and Williams that ended a challenge of six violations and related fines against the Tulsa, Oklahoma, company.
Early this year, Williams contested the violations with the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission, an independent board in Washington, D.C., that reviews challenged OSHA findings.
Among several changes brought by the settlement, OSHA agreed to reduce the most significant charge from a "willful" violation to a "serious" one and, in the process, appears to have ended the possibility that the agency could refer the case for a future criminal investigation.
The change from willful to serious violation also came with a reduction in Williams' fine for that violation from $70,000 to $7,000. As a result, Williams' combined the fines for the deadly explosion fell from $99,000 to $36,000, the settlement says.
OSHA and Williams also have reached a separate settlement on a seventh violation, deemed "serious," stemming from an incident three months after the deadly blast. The $7,000 fine for the violation is unchanged.
Juan Rodriguez, OSHA spokesman in Dallas, declined comment Monday on the settlements, but under OSHA rules, only a willful citation over an incident that involves the death of a worker brings the risk that OSHA could recommend a criminal investigation to federal prosecutors.
U.S. Attorney Walt Green said Monday that under U.S. Department of Justice policy, he cannot comment whether or not there is an investigation into the explosion.
Tom Droege, Williams spokesman, said the company has cooperated with OSHA in a full and transparent manner.
"These settlement agreements with OSHA bring closure to this phase of our post-incident recovery, and we continue to work diligently to further enhance safety at the Geismar plant and across our entire organization."