Imperial Sugar agrees to $4M fine for Ga. blast (killed 14 workers in 2008)

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By RUSS BYNUM

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) - Imperial Sugar has agreed to pay more than $6 million in fines for safety violations at two of its U.S. plants, including the Georgia refinery where a dust explosion killed 14 workers in 2008, federal regulators said Wednesday.

The settlement with the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration comes nearly two years after regulators first sought to penalize the Texas-based company for allowing combustible sugar dust to accumulate in dangerous amounts inside its plants despite prior warnings.

"Clearly, health and safety must become this company's top priorities," Labor Secretary Hilda Solis said in a statement. "This agreement requires Imperial Sugar to make extensive changes to its safety practices, and it underscores the importance of proactively addressing workplace safety and health hazards."

OSHA had originally sought to fine Imperial Sugar $8.7 million for 221 safety violations at the nation's second-largest sugar refinery near Savannah and its plant in Gramercy, La. The company contested the fines to an administrative law judge, leading to lengthy settlement talks that resulted in an agreement to pay 70 percent of the originally proposed amount.


Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20100707/D9GQD8Q00.html

[CurtEastPoint]

1. And remember that Sen. Saxby Chambliss REFUSED to testify.

During the run-off period, Chambliss received a subpoena regarding the investigation of a lawsuit against Imperial Sugar that claims that Imperial "wrongfully" failed to remove hazards that caused the disaster of a Savannah-based sugar refinery that exploded on Feb. 7, 2008. Chambliss was accused of "harassing"<16> a former sugar company executive. In a statement, Chambliss said he has referred the matter to Senate lawyers. Chambliss has stated: "I continue to sympathize with the families who were devastated by this tragedy and I will continue to work to protect the interests of those families." Savannah attorney Mark Tate, "an active backer of Democratic candidates," insisted that "there is nothing political" about the timing of the subpoena. When Tate subpoenaed Chambliss to testify in the case, Chambliss claimed "legislative immunity."<17><18><19>