Jay Elwell, 50
A worker died Wednesday in an accident at Intel's Ronler Acres campus in Hillsboro.
Police said Jay Elwell, 50, died while doing maintenance on a vertical industrial storage carousel. Elwell was employed by Raymond Handling Concepts Corporation, which is a subcontractor for Intel, Hillsboro police said in a news release.
An early police investigation indicates the death isn't the result of a crime. The investigation has been turned over to the Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Administration, police said.
A spokeswoman with Intel said in a statement the company is "deeply saddened" by the accident and is cooperating with the investigation.
According to his Facebook page, Elwell was an Aloha resident. Friends who posted to his page said he was known as a good friend and mentor who will "live on in the lives" of the people he's touched.
Police didn't release any additional information about the death Thursday morning.
Raymond Handling Concepts Corporation is a forklift dealer and materials handling company that offers "high-density storage, order-picking systems and associated services to companies engaged in warehousing and distribution as well as material handling of all kinds," according to its website. It works in the Northwest and has a branch office in Portland.
Intel's accident is the worst the local tech industry has seen in several years. Most recently in December, a hydrogen tank caught fire at WaferTech in Camas, with no injuries reported.
Tech industry accidents in the Silicon Forest
The death of a worker at Intel is the worst accident Silicon Forest has seen in years. Here are some of the most notable accident that have happened in the area:
Intel, early 1980s (Aloha): Company officials report a leak of solvents from a pipe leading to an underground tank. In the '90s, the company built pumps and treated water to prevent the solvents from seeping into groundwater under nearby homes.
Intel, Oct. 7, 1984 (Aloha): Seventeen workers are hospitalized after they reported breathing problems. Intel evacuates the factory again later in the week after chlorine fumes leaked from an exhaust system.
Intel, Nov. 11, 1986 (Aloha): A pyrophoric gas silane cylinder leaks through a valve and catches fire. Sprinklers confine the blaze.
Fujitsu Microelectronics, July 20, 1995 (Gresham): Eighteen people are taken to the hospital after an ammonia leak.
Intel, Nov. 18, 1996 (Hillsboro): An employee cleaning out an acid tank encounters a small puff of steam as the tank was heated. Emergency workers took him to the hospital for observation.
Maxim Integrated Products, June 7, 2001 (Beaverton): Seventeen people are taken to the hospital complaining of labored breathing and headaches after a leak of chlorine and hydrogen bromide. Employees are treated, released and returned to work the same night.
WaferTech, July 2, 2007 (Camas, Wash.): A tanker truck spills a gallon of sulfuric acid onto Lake Road in Camas. The acid, a byproduct of chip manufacturing, was to be sold to others. Firefighters and WaferTech clean up the spill.
Microchip Technology, June 21, 2010 (Gresham): A 55-gallon drum containing a solvent leaks into a containment trench. Gresham firefighters respond.
ON Semiconductor, July 20, 2010 (Gresham): Two workers are taken to the hospital for minor injuries after being exposed to ammonia in a production area. The facility is evacuated for three hours.
WaferTech, Dec. 17, 2016 (Camas, Wash.): A 3,000-gallon tank containing hydrogen catches fire at the WaferTech campus. There were no injuries.
-- The Oregonian/OregonLive
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HILLSBORO, Ore. – A contract worker doing maintenance on a piece of machinery at the Ronler Acres Intel site in Hillsboro was killed as a result of a malfunction Wednesday afternoon.
Hillsboro police said there was nothing criminal about the incident and the death of 50-year-old Jay Elwell appears to be an accident.
Elwell worked for Raymond Handling Concepts Corporation.
A spokesperson for Intel said “they are deeply saddened by today’s accident” and they are working with local authorities to investigate.
Occupational Safety and Health Administration will conduct an investigation.