Wichita-OSHA has issued 11 individual notices of violations, all considered serious, against MagnaGro International of Lawrence, Kan., in connection with the deaths of two employees from asphyxiation on April 1 (GM April 5, p. 10). The citations, dated July 16, carry a penalty of $73,000 and require corrective action by Sept. 1. Attempts to contact owner Raymond Sawyer were unsuccessful, and an employee answering the phone at the plant would not confirm that the city closed down MagnaGro last month for city code violations. Sawyer and his fertilizer business also face possible criminal and civil action by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Chris Whitley, EPA Region 7 spokesman, told Green Markets that lab work has been completed from an onsite visit to the MagnaGro plant last month, but didn’t say if any action is in the works. “It’s too early to tell what the next step might be,” Whitley reported. He did add that there is potential for some civil action. Although Whitley also confirmed that MagnaGro is the focus of a separate EPA criminal investigation, he had no details about this situation because the EPA criminal unit operates apart from the civil offices at Kansas City. But OSHA inspectors found a litany of infractions, ranging from not providing fall protection for employees working around molasses storage tanks, fixed stairs not being provided for access from one structure to another where regular travel is necessary, and exposure to potential falls of up to 14 feet, to information and training not being provided to employees on hazardous chemicals, or ensuring that employees were aware they were working with such chemicals as sulfuric acid, green and white phosphorus, humic acid, and fermenting molasses. OSHA also charged that hazardous chemicals were not labeled with warning notices, and that the company did not have a written hazardous chemical communication program.
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