Complaint filed against ‘Rust’ producers
Environment Department takes action after company appealed earlier citation
The state Environment Department has issued a formal administrative complaint against the film company behind actor-producer Alec Baldwin’s Rust movie production.
The department filed the complaint after the Rust company appealed the department’s April citation that imposed the most severe workplace violation and a maximum fine of nearly $137,000 following an investigation into the October shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, said Matthew Maez, a spokesman for the New Mexico Environment Department.
He said Rust producers have 15 days to respond to the complaint, after which time the Occupational Health and Safety Review Commission will schedule a hearing.
In a news release, the Environment Department said it was issuing the complaint to hold the production company “accountable for a workplace fatality and a serious injury in the workplace” and to assess further civil penalties.
As with the previous citation, the complaint included the results of the investigation, which began in late October and continued through early April, and included interviews with 14 employees of the ill-fated production.
Among other findings, the investigation report said the production company
“demonstrated plain indifference to the hazards associated with firearms” on the set and failed to follow proper firearm safety practices.
The report said those in charge of the production took no corrective or disciplinary action after two previously reported firearms mishaps took place on the set.
It includes text messages among employees talking about “guns jamming” because of a lack of readiness.
Authorities have said Hutchins, 42, was fatally shot Oct. 21 at the Bonanza Creek Ranch south of Santa Fe when a revolver held by Baldwin, star and co-producer of the film, discharged during a rehearsal.
Director Joel Souza was wounded in the shoulder by the same bullet that killed Hutchins, according to reports.
Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza said after the shooting his detectives had discovered several live rounds on the film set and recovered the spent shell casing from the bullet that had killed Hutchins and wounded Souza. The bullet was recovered from Souza’s shoulder, the sheriff said at that time.
The incident has led to several lawsuits in New Mexico and other states, including a wrongful death lawsuit filed in February in First Judicial District Court by Hutchins’ husband, Matthew Hutchins.
Rust armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed filed a lawsuit in January in the 2nd Judicial District Court in Albuquerque accusing Seth Kenney, the owner of PDQ Arm and Prop, of supplying her with mislabeled dummy ammunition that errantly included live rounds.
The Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office is still investigating the case, which “remains open,” spokesman Juan Ríos said Tuesday.
Attorney Aaron Dyer, who represents Baldwin and Rust Movie Productions, did not return a call seeking comment.