Anchorage — The OSHA office here has announced fines totaling $66,500 against the owners of the Seattle-based fish processing vessel Excellent, along with a lesser amount involving the firm handling the repair work. According to OSHA, all five violations were considered serious, and one was a repeat violation. “The citations issued were on process safety management standards,” according to Scott Ketcham, OSHA Anchorage area director. Premier Pacific Seafoods has planned a serious overhaul of their safety system, which according to Ketcham helped get their fines reduced. “Yes, there were some reductions in return for good faith,” Ketcham says. “But they gave us some really good corrections for these things happening in the future. And I feel very comfortable with the other contractor.” Failure to remove the ammonia line while replacing some older refrigeration equipment set up the events, which led to the release of several thousands of pounds of ammonia and injury to at least three persons – two of whom were hospitalized – aboard the vessel last summer, according to one of the investigators on the scene for the state. “Several years ago they removed that piece of equipment without removing the ammonia line," Steven Russell with the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation told Green Markets. “It was left connected to the refrigeration lines and just looped back together. In hindsight, they should have completely removed that line from the vessel.” Russell explained that just before the release the line developed a small leak, and a temporary repair was made before the vessel came into port where a permanent repair would be made. The mechanical crew making the repair cut into the line thinking it was secure when it wasn’t.
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