OSHA has not inspected troubled barrel plants
Baldwin asks why regulators have not acted despite reports from media, other agencies
Federal workplace regulators have failed to inspect two troubled industrial barrel refurbishing plants in the Milwaukee area, even after environmental regulators uncovered serious safety violations during inspections and workers publicly described dangerous conditions at the plants.
The environmental inspectors could see fumes coming from barrels on the plant floor that contained flammable chemicals and other illegally stored hazardous waste. And the odor coming from the burning operation at one of the plants was so strong two federal inspectors became ill as they talked to residents.
A Milwaukee Journal Sentinel investigation in February revealed environmental problems and dangerous working conditions at a chain of barrel refurbishing plants, including three in Wisconsin — Oak Creek, Milwaukee and St. Francis — as well as facilities in Arkansas, Indiana and Tennessee.
Workers at the plants said chemicals were routinely mixed together, triggering dangerous reactions, and plumes of smoke from unknown chemicals have been released into neighborhoods. Yet inspectors from the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration have only inspected one of six plants in the chain, according to a federal inspection database and Journal Sentinel interviews.
The failure to act by OSHA prompted a sharply worded letter from U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.). Baldwin said she was told by OSHA officials they could not go into the plants without a worker complaint.
In her July 28 letter, Baldwin cited OSHA regulations that say the agency can inspect a facility based on media reports or referrals from other government agencies.
Baldwin said the situation at the plants in Wisconsin meets OSHA’s criteria for an inspection, noting the Journal Sentinel investigation as well as subsequent inspections by state and federal environmental regulators.
“OSHA’s inaction is
extremely troubling,” Baldwin wrote. “Instead of looking for reasons not to act, OSHA should immediately investigate the allegations regarding health and safety risks at the St. Francis and Oak Creek facilities.”
Inspection found violations
OSHA officials inspected one drum plant in the chain after a complaint late last year. They issued citations alleging unsafe work conditions at the Milwaukee facility, located on W. Cornell St. near W. Hampton Ave. and N. 24th St., and assessing $108,000 in fines.
Among the violations found in the inspection: Workers were mixing chemicals from barrels, exposing workers to the risk of burns, explosions and the inhalation of toxic gas. The company disputes those violations.
The facilities are operated by Container Life Cycle Management, a joint venture majority owned by Ohio-based Greif Inc., an industrial packaging giant. The plants refurbish 55-gallon steel drums and large plastic chemical containers, cleaning them for reuse or recycling. The three Milwaukee-area plants operate as Mid-America Steel Drum.
Dangerous chemicals have been mixed together and washed down floor drains and plumes of smoke from unknown chemical reactions have been released into neighborhoods, the Journal Sentinel investigation found. Fires have erupted at the plants, fouling the air and posing a danger to nearby homes.
The Journal Sentinel’s findings were based on 16 hours of audio recordings by a whistleblower; hundreds of pages of documents, including internal injury reports and safety audits; as well as public records and interviews with workers, regulators and experts.
Debbie Crow, a spokeswoman for Greif and CLCM, said that the company continues to be “willing to open its facilities for inspection by governmental agencies.”
“The company is committed to the health and safety of our colleagues and protecting the environment in the communities where we live and work,” she wrote in an email. “We will continue to work closely with agency partners in an effort to uphold that commitment.”
When asked if OSHA was doing safety inspections at the plants, agency spokeswoman Kimberly Darby wrote in early
July that the agency’s Milwaukee office was working with other agencies but declined further comment.
An OSHA spokesman this week said the agency had nothing to add.
In a letter sent to Baldwin’s office last May, OSHA regional administrator Ken Nishiyama Atha wrote that “if any site specific allegations of serious hazards were brought to OSHA’s attention regarding either the Oak Creek or St. Francis sites, they would be evaluated and handled in accordance with OSHA’s policies and procedures.”
Baldwin said the results of inspections by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, as detailed in the Journal Sentinel, give OSHA plenty of “site specific allegations” for the agency to investigate.
The state DNR inspected the three facilities earlier this year, citing the company for 19 violations, in 250 pages of enforcement reports released to the Journal Sentinel last month.
The 55-gallon drums and larger totes are supposed to arrive at the plants empty, but they sometimes come in with a significant amount of chemicals remaining inside, including highly flammable and other hazardous liquids.
During one inspection, inspectors found more than 100 barrels at the Oak Creek plant, including several that were labeled hazardous waste and had
strong smelling chemicals inside.
Inspectors randomly pulled drums and found several with significant amounts of chemicals inside, including one that was full, the report said.
The company was cited for handling hazardous waste without permits, failing to keep required records, misrepresenting information on permit applications, sending hazardous ash to landfills not permitted to receive it, and continuing to send putrid odors over neighborhoods three years after similar smells were recorded.
Inspectors also found a hole cut in a fence at one of the plants, allowing potentially contaminated waste to run into the storm sewer, a violation of the state’s water laws.
Enforcement conference scheduled
DNR officials are holding a series of enforcement meetings with Greif officials, beginning later this month in Milwaukee.
Historically most violations are resolved at such meetings, but the reports noted the law allows such matters to be referred to the state Department of Justice, which could seek court-ordered compliance and penalties up to $25,000 for each day of violation.
For years, residents near the St. Francis plant have complained about foul odors and smoke from the plant. They’ve also reported health complaints including dizziness, itching, watery eyes, rashes on exposed skin, nausea, lymphoma, cardiovascular disease and throat cancer, according to court documents seeking the surprise EPA inspection earlier this year.
Earlier this year, thetwo EPA investigators became ill while interviewing residents around the St. Francis plant, reporting nausea, dizziness and difficulty breathing.
Concerned that the company engaged in a cover-up and that the plant’s true operations presented a risk to residents, federal prosecutors took the unusual step of asking a federal magistrate judge to approve search warrants that authorized surprise inspections to collect samples.
The EPA and federal prosecutors cited the Journal Sentinel investigation as the basis for a court order to do the surprise inspection.
Baldwin said all the findings by government agencies give OSHA all the information needed to go in and look for dangerous conditions.
“Various government agencies have been very active investigating and uncovering concerns, violations and risks to health and safety that should provide OSHA with the evidence needed to investigate all three (Wisconsin) facilities,” she wrote.