OSHA: Gas Supplier had violations

$302K civil penalties issued against Airgas after death at facility.

Weeks before a deputy was killed at a Georgia sperm bank, the company and its gas supplier knew that a tank could improperly release nitrogen inside the facility, according to findings by the state fire commissioner’s office and by OSHA.

Indeed, other people had been exposed to asphyxiation hazards before Sgt. Greg Meagher died after inhaling liquid nitrogen in the February incident at Xytex in Augusta, inspection reports show.

Citing a violation at Xytex and other violations throughout Georgia, Insurance and Fire Commissioner Ralph Hudgens on Wednesday issued civil penalties against Airgas USA totaling $302,500.

Investigative reports of the Xytex incident noted that a few days after Airgas installed a 3,000-gallon bulk storage tank last December, a Xytex employee attempted to cool cryogenic freezers with the liquid nitrogen. Instead, relief valves on the tank began discharging the gas inside the room, and the worker had to shut off the gas.

Then in January, when an Airgas service manager tested the tank, employees were exposed again to potential asphyxiation hazards, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration found.

That January visit was the trigger for a deadly chain of events.

After inspecting the tank, the Airgas service manager told Xytex it needed recalibration, according to findings released by the fire commissioner. But the ser-

vice manager didn’t re-label the tank.

Then on Feb. 5 — a Sunday — an Airgas truck delivered liquid nitrogen. The trucker filled the Xytex tank as instructed by the service decal. That overpressurized the tank, triggering release valves. Then, instead of releasing the gas outdoors, as safety measures require, the valves released liquid nitrogen gas inside the building.

An alarm was somehow triggered, and Xytex employee Anita Wylds went to the building to see what was wrong, according to a news report. She was immediately burned, the report said, and then collapsed.

Responding to the alarm, Meagher and other Richmond County deputies went to Xytex and saw vapors coming from under a door. They tried to go in but were forced out by fumes.

Meagher, though, went back in.

He, too, was overcome. Firefighters eventually arrived, but it was too late to save Meagher. Wylds was critically injured but survived. Three other deputies exposed to the gas also survived.

Nitrogen is liquid at extremely low temperatures, so cold that it can cause instant freezing on contact with living tissue. When exposed to room temperatures, though, liquid nitrogen evaporates and expands into a gas, displacing oxygen. Victims essentially suffocate. In releasing findings from the state investigation on Wednesday, Hudgens said that the gas leak may have been avoided if the proper servicing decal had been placed on the storage tank.

“Either an employee not following through with the proper procedures or a lack of communication between the two companies led to this tragic event,” the commissioner said in a news release.

Airgas was fined $5,000 — the maximum allowed by state law — for failure to report the Xytex incident promptly to his office. State inspectors learned of the incident the following day, from news reports.

Airgas officials were aware they should have contacted the fire commissioner’s office, said Glenn Allen, communications director for Hudgens’ office. “The disconnect could have been, they filled the tank up and the driver left. Whether or not they knew of the incident is irrelevant to us.”

Hudgens said the other $297,500 in penalties reflected years of other violations. Hundreds of Airgas tanks in Georgia have failed to have required re-inspections after installation. The tanks are supposed to be re-inspected every three years. But some 200 Airgas tanks went six years or more without the required inspections, Allen told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. More than 190 others hadn’t been inspected in more than three years.

“We essentially inherited this division ... from the Labor Department in July 2012 .... This was one of the things we learned,” Allen said, adding that the office is now looking at compliance by other tank suppliers. Airgas officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

OSHA’s report, released late last month, proposed $25,350 in penalties for Airgas. The federal agency also found Xytex in violation for not having an emergency response plan, imposing an initial penalty of $30,421, the agency’s records show. The state and federal findings are not the final words over the incident. Jurisdiction of the Xytex building itself falls to Augusta/Richmond County. “They have an ongoing investigation,” Allen said.