Federal regulators have issued citations and fines to three businesses for failing to protect six workers who died from toxic gas exposure at a dairy in Keenesburg last year.
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Between the three businesses, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration ordered fines that totaled nearly $250,000. Prospect Valley Dairy faces the highest fine, around $132,000, for failing to train workers and protect them from hazards on the job.
Colorado-based Fiske Inc., which operates the business High Plains Robotics, was fined nearly $100,000 for not training workers on how to detect toxic gases. They service dairy equipment and employed four of the deceased workers.
Contractor HD Builders owes around $15,000 for not having training and writing in place around hazard communication.
Sam Cannon is an attorney for Cannon Law in Fort Collins representing the families of four of the victims: Jorge Sanchez Pena, Alejandro Espinosa Cruz, Oscar Espinosa Leos and Carlos Espinoza Prado. He said this investigation is thorough and serious, but it’s a start.
“What OSHA has looked into is essential,” Cannon said. “But really, we're no nearer figuring out, you know, why this system malfunctioned, what the cause of that was? Family members deserve to understand why was this system operating when it wasn't safe.”
Other questions he wants answered are who designed and constructed the faulty system, as well as what the companies know about the dangers involved in the system.
“This is not as rare an occurrence in the dairy industry as it should be, hydrogen sulfide poisoning,” Cannon said. “The first question is trying to explain to our clients what happened to their family members, so that they can move forward, so that the community can move forward, so that the dairy industry can change itself and be better.”
Autopsies conducted by the Weld County coroner's office showed that exposure to hydrogen sulfide gas was the cause of death, but it did not say much about the details of how that happened, describing only an industrial accident in a confined space at a dairy farm.
Ryan Spear is also an attorney at the Spear Firm in Greeley, representing the same families of the four deceased workers. He said these six-figure fines from OSHA are severe and unusual, but it’s not enough.
“If we're going to compare those fines to a life, they are, wholeheartedly, a drop in the bucket,” Spear said. “I think that the family members are more concerned with how to ensure that these types of accidents do not happen again.”
But Spear said that these findings have already made a difference to the family members.
“I think that the families are starting to feel important,” he said. “Sadly, in many accidents like this, their wishes are kind of pushed aside sometimes, and I think OSHA did a great job so far. It's the beginning, and the families feel recognized that their family members that perished in the accident are not just being overlooked.”
Both firms in Northern Colorado are investigating the potential for civil claims.
Workers’ rights advocates are also fighting for greater education in the dairy space. Ana Schultz is the regional director for Project Protect Promotora Network Region 2, which covers Weld and Larimer Counties.
“Unfortunately, it takes an incident like this to get everybody worried,” she said. “Education is power and it empowers them. But at the same time, the administration or owners need to be informed as well. And if things are not in place and they're not following the safety requirements, you know, there has to be a consequence.”
Her concern is that due to the current fears around federal immigration enforcement, workers will stay quiet about issues that need to be addressed.
“The workers don't want to share or complain about irregularities,” she said. “They might share it directly to us, but then they'll say, ‘Please don't say anything.’ They don't want it to go further, because they don't want to have repercussions.”
Prospect Valley Dairy didn’t respond to KUNC’s request for comment. A representative for HD Builders said to the Associated Press that the company had no comment.
High Plains Robotics said in a statement that it disagrees with the fines and charges, but is committed to making sure an event like this doesn’t happen again.
The companies have around two weeks to comply or to challenge the findings.
