Imperial Sugar fined $8.7 million

The day of reckoning appears to be nearing for Imperial Sugar. The company's Savannah sugar refinery exploded in February, killing 13 people and injuring scores more. Three-workers remain hospitalized. Today, after a nearly six-month investigation, officials from the Occuaptional Safety and Health Administration issued their findings and proposed fines.

If they stick, the fines would be the third-largest in OSHA history: $5 million for alleged violations at the Imperial Sugar refinery in Savannah and another $3 million for violations at the company's refinery in Gramercy, Louisiana. Many of these violations relate to a build-up of combustible sugar dust. OSHA Assistant Secretary Edwin Foulke expressed outrage over what he called Imperial Sugar's "complete disregard" for its workers' safety.

"Imperial Sugar managers had been repeatedly informed of serious combustible dust hazard at the facility as early as 2002," Faulke says. "While the company took steps to determine what hazards were there, they took no reasonable action to fix the problems."

In all, OSHA found 120 violations at the Savannah refinery, including 61 "egregious" violations. The agency says, the refinery had electrical hazards, fall hazards, machine guarding hazards and poor housekeeping related to combustible dust. OSHA's regional director Cindy Coe says excess dust fueled the deadly blast.

"Our theory is that a bucket came loose, whacked against the side, caused a spark and ignited the suspended sugar. And from there, it goes," Coe says.

Imperial Sugar's C.E.O. issued a statement, saying the facts don't support the charges and the company will contest the proposed fines. Imperial Sugar managers, however, aren't the only officials facing withering questions in light of today's allegations, since if, as OSHA alleges, there were serious hazards since 2002, why did it take OSHA six-years and the deaths of 13-people for them to find out about them?

"I'm saying that, given the resources we have, we have been doing random inspections at facilities that have combustible dust," Coe says. "We do not have the resources to inspect every facility in the country, no."

Coe says, OSHA has stepped up those random checks. One given to the Imperial Sugar refinery in Louisiana led to the shut-down of that facility weeks after the Savannah explosion. Inspectors found dust in some locations four feet high.

With new administration, new rules coming on deadly dust

The Obama administration is putting its stamp on workplace safety regulations, announcing a crackdown on combustible dust, the cause of last year's deadly explosion at Savannah's Imperial Sugar refinery. Fourteen people died and dozens were injured in the blast.

Officials with the U.S. Occupational Health and Safety Administration announced a "comprehensive rulemaking" process for combustible dust. The action could result in regulations for combustible dust. The hazard is currently regulated under broader, less specific regulations.

“Over the years, combustible dust explosions have caused many deaths and devastating injuries that could have been prevented,” said Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis. “OSHA is reinvigorating the process to ensure workers receive the protection they need while also ensuring that employers have the tools needed to make their workplaces safer.”

Last year, the U.S. House passed legislation that would have required OSHA to beef up its combustible dust regulations. The U.S. Chemical Safety Board recommended in 2006 that the agency pursue such new regulations. But the legislation stalled in the Senate when the Bush administration made it clear that the President would veto it.

Imperial Sugar responded to the rulemaking process with an embrace.

"Imperial applauds this action as a milestone step toward elevating the awareness of this industrial hazard and the clear articulation of best practices," says Imperial President and CEO John Sheptor. "We have advocated for such a regulation since our February 2008 Georgia tragedy as a critical catalyst to transform the way that dust is managed across numerous U.S. industries."

OSHA fined Imperial Sugar $8.8 million because of what they agency said was egregious violations of workplace safety regulations. Victims of last year's disaster and their families are suing the company. The plantiffs' lawyers have said new regulations would not have prevented the explosion because Imperial Sugar ignored existing regulations.

Imperial Sugar has appealed the fine. A company spokesman recently outlined worker safety steps the company took before the explosion. These included $1.7 million in safety upgrades.

Imperial warned of dust hazards years before explosion

Fourteen people died as the result of an explosion at the Imperial sugar refinery near Savannah last February. Six months later, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration determined dust was the culprit. OSHA says Imperial Sugar managers knew of the problem for years and refused to fix it. OSHA slapped the company with an 8.7 million dollar fine. Victims filed their own lawsuits.

Now, today the Savannah Morning News publicized reports showing consultants warned the company of the hazards years before the blast.

From a 2005 report: “One major problem is still the strength of dust extraction. This is so weak that the powder sugar is not transported away from the machine.”

A subsequent 2006 report reads, “The system is plugged up… the units you have were state of the art… in the early 60’s.”

And another report obtained by the Savannah Morning News says that in 2008, one of six collection systems had major difficulties collecting explosive sugar dust.

Brent Savage represents 12 of the victims. "The fact that they were advised to get new dust collectors and didn’t do it," says Savage. "They were not doing the right thing… they were indifferent to these problems." Savage says his clients are angry.

Imperial Sugar says it didn’t receive the 2008 findings until after the explosion, and as for other reports… speaking on behalf of Imperial Sugar, Steve Behm issued this statement via email: Imperial did take action in terms of repairs and maintenance to its dust collection systems prior to the February 7, 2008 explosion, along with many other efforts towards improving safety at the facility.

Imperial Sugar has appealed OSHA’s fine. Savage says that case will likely be tied up in courts until 2010, but he expects the victims' lawsuits to move forward by the end of the year.

Imperial returns to operation; CEO defends Chambliss

Imperial Sugar's chief executive says his company never tried to enlist Sen. Saxby Chambliss to help it avoid blame in the February refinery explosion that killed 14 people in coastal Georgia. Imperial Sugar CEO John Sheptor told reporters in Savannah Wednesday that the Republican senator has shown "integrity and character" in his response to the tragedy. Chambliss, a Republican who faces a Dec. 2 election runoff, is fighting a subpoena by a Savannah attorney who wants to question the senator about whether Imperial Sugar persuaded him to harshly criticize a whistleblower testifying at a July Senate hearing. Attorney Mark Tate also accuses Chambliss of trying to discourage victims from suing the company. Chambliss has denied the allegations. His attorneys say the Constitution gives Chambliss immunity from testifying.

Imperial Sugar's coastal Georgia plant is operating again for the first time since a February explosion killed 14 people and injured dozens more. Company CEO John Sheptor said Wednesday the refinery in Port Wentworth resumed producing liquid sugar earlier this month and on Thursday will receive its first shipment of raw sugar since the explosion nearly 10 months ago. Imperial Sugar executives and employees celebrated Wednesday as they broke ground on a new 75,000-square-foot packaging plant to replace the one destroyed by the blast, which investigators determined was caused by dust igniting like gunpowder. Sheptor said the refinery should resume producing crystalized sugar in early 2009 and all new construction should be finished by next fall.


(Associated Press)

5 victims found in Imperial Sugar plant disaster

Smoke billows from behind the main plant of the Imperial Sugar Company during a fire at the plant on the Savannah River Thursday Feb. 7, 2008 in Port Wentworth, Ga. (AP Photo/Stephen Morton)

Crews on Saturday found another body in the remnants of the sugar refinery plant devastated by an explosion and fire, raising the death toll to five and leaving three others still missing, officials said.

The body was found near the silos used to store sugar after crews shored up the plant's wobbly remnants, Fire Chief Greg Long said. Three workers and a supervisor were believed to be missing, but it was not clear whether the body was that of a worker or the supervisor.

"We operate on the policy that everyone is alive until we get to them," he said.

The search was expected to be suspended for the night, and resume again Sunday.

Crews re-entered what's left of the Imperial Sugar Co. refinery after stabilizing the upper floors of a four-story building. They needed access to that building to gain entry to an 80-foot silo that rescuers wanted to search for the men, Long said.

Earlier Saturday, Long said firefighters all but extinguished the fire that had raged in the refinery since the explosion, allowing teams to resume searching for the missing men.

"We have an idea of where they are," Long said. "We didn't want to collapse anything."

The chief said he strongly believed the four men — three workers and a supervisor, all of whom Long said he knew personally — were the only people still unaccounted for from Thursday's blast.

Crews brought in heavy equipment Saturday to remove debris as investigators looked for the cause of the blast that ignited a storage silo. At least four flatbed trucks carrying segments of a giant crane and other machinery rolled through the refinery's front gates.

Imperial Sugar was one of the largest and oldest employers in this tiny city of 5,000 just a few miles west of Savannah. The vast refinery was a network of warehouses, silos and buildings eight stories tall connected by corridors of sheet metal.

Imperial President and CEO John Sheptor said sugar dust in a silo used to store refined sugar before packaging likely ignited like gunpowder. Sugar dust can be combustible if it's too dry and builds up a static electric charge.

The result was as devastating as a bomb. Floors in the plant collapsed, flames spread throughout the refinery, metal girders buckled into twisted heaps and shredded sheet metal littered the wreckage.

More than 30 employees were rushed to hospitals. Several were taken to a burn center in Augusta, 130 miles up the Savannah River. Many were in critical condition, including some who were placed on ventilators, said Dr. William Wessinger, the medical director at Memorial University Medical Center in Savannah. A spokeswoman from the Savannah hospital said
Saturday that the last of nine workers treated there had been released.

Click here for more GPB News coverage of the blast and aftermath.

Imperial Sugar victims remembered on the explosion's anniversary

Imperial Sugar memorial service. (Photo: Orlando Montoya)

Saturday marked the first anniversary of one of the worst industrial disasters in Georgia history.

About 400 people gathered at the Imperial Sugar refinery near Savannah to remember the 14 workers who died in an explosion and fire there on February 7th, 2008. Company President John Sheptor dedicated a park remembering the victims.

"We are calling this ground Legacy Park," Sheptor told the audience, who heard gospel music and Bible readings during a 90 minute program."This plant and this company have much to remember. We have endured struggles, hardships, hard labors and tragedy."

Federal investigators blamed the explosion on an excessive buildup of combustible sugar dust, later issuing Imperial one of the largest health and safety fines in U.S. history. The company is still contesting those fines and a rash of lawsuits filed by victims.

Legacy Park is located in a shady corner of the hulking plant's property. It has a simple stone marker for each of the victims. Still to be finished is a statue depicting outstreached hands and doves. Saturday's ceremony included a release of 14 doves.

Refinery blast report out Friday

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration plans to release the results of a six month probe into the Imperial Sugar explosion.

Imperial Sugar C.E.O. John Sheptor told the Savannah Morning News that he expects the workplace safety agency to issue "significant" safety citations. Speculation as to what caused the sugar refinery explosion in Febrary has focused on a build-up of combusible dust.

If OSHA cites the company for excess dust or other violations, Imperial Sugar will have three weeks to contest the findings.

The agency's report will come just days before a Senate subcommittee is scheduled to meet to discuss proposed legislation to regulate combustible dust. The Imperial Sugar disaster killed thirteen people.

Sugar Refinery Blast Victims Mourned

Imperial Sugar employee Dave Fish, right, and his wife, Heather, hold candles in front of the Our Lady of the Lourdes Catholic Church during a vigil on Saturday in Port Wentworth, Ga. (Stephen Morton/AP)

Hundreds of family, friends and co-workers on Saturday mourned employees killed in a deadly Georgia sugar refinery explosion.

Nine people died at Imperial Sugar last week when sugar dust ignited earlier this month in Port Wentworth.

More than 250 people filled the pews of Immanuel Baptist Church to memorialize 54-year-old Truitt Byers of Savannah. He is one of four employees whose funerals are being held Saturday.

The minister told Byers' wife and two children during the service they should not be afraid to cry or ask questions about the tragedy.

Byers worked as an operator mechanic for 22 years at the refinery, which produces Dixie Crystals brand sugar.

Wreaths at the front gate of the Imperial Sugar Company in memoriam for employees who died in the conflagration. (AP Photo/Mary Ann Chastain)

Click here for more GPB News coverage of the Imperial Sugar refinery disaster.

(The Associated Press)

Executive describes dangerous conditions at sugar refinery

An executive at the Imperial Sugar Company said Tuesday that he found conditions at a Savannah sugar refinery "so shocking" that he recommended firing the plant manager. The refinery later exploded, killing 13 people.

The comments of Imperial Sugar's Vice President of Operations, Graham Graham, came at a hearing of a U.S. Senate subcommittee on workplace safety. Graham says, he toured the company's refinery in Port Wentworth near Savannah after assuming his position in November.

In his Senate testimony, Graham says, he found plates missing on electrical gear, piles of discarded sugar and other materials littering the facility and "dirty and dangerous" conditions that constituted a "combustible environment." He recommended firing the plant manager. Graham says, he also toured the company refinery in Gramercy, Louisiana and found similar problems.

The Senate was also scheduled to hear from the head of the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which last week blasted Imperial Sugar with $8 million in proposed fines.

Burning sugar slows search for survivors

Ambulances and emergency workers from 12 counties were called in to assist in the evacuation of the workers injured at the plant. (AP Photo)

Sugar that was still burning three days after a refinery explosion killed at least five people hampered the search Sunday for three other workers missing since the blast leveled portions of the plant.

Crews used construction cranes to shore up three badly damaged, 80-foot storage silos that rescue workers want to search for the missing men. One of the silos blew up late Thursday, possibly after combustible dust ignited.

Mounds of sugary sludge pouring out of the silos Sunday was solidifying, though, creating another obstacle to the recovery efforts.

"You've got three silos down there that are still burning, you've got sugar still burning," said Sgt. Mike Wilson of Savannah-Chatham County police. "As you've got sugar that's crystalizing and running down the chutes, it's like concrete."

Strong wind coming off the Savannah River made conditions even more hazardous for crews trying to prevent the silos and plant buildings from collapsing, Savannah Fire Capt. Mike Stanley said.

"It is a very delicate environment that they are working in. We have a very windy day and a very weak structure and we are trying our damnedest to find the rest of the workers," Stanley said.

Although officials previously said the fire that had raged in the refinery since the explosion was all but extinguished, authorities said Sunday that fires still burned in the silos. Helicopters were to be brought in Sunday to pour retardant to put out the flames, Wilson said.

Rescue workers and company managers were trying to determine where the missing men might be. Officials were focusing on at least three areas of the plant, including the silos.

The search was halted at sunset because the debris-strewn refinery remained too hazardous for nighttime searches. It resumed Sunday morning.

Imperial Sugar was one of the largest and oldest employers in this city of 5,000. The vast refinery was a network of warehouses, silos and buildings eight stories tall connected by corridors of sheet metal.

Twenty workers were hospitalized with severe burns, 17 of them in medically induced comas.
Investigators with the Georgia Fire Marshal's office, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the U.S. Chemical Safety Board began arriving Saturday.

Imperial President and CEO John Sheptor has said sugar dust in a silo used to store refined sugar before packaging likely ignited like gunpowder. Sugar dust can be combustible if it's too dry and builds up a static electric charge.

Company officials have refused to speculate on when the plant might reopen, saying structural engineers needed to examine the damage.

Click here for more GPB News coverage of the Imperial Sugar plant disaster.

Imperial Sugar cited for alleged violations in La.

Federal regulators have cited the Imperial Sugar Company for safety violations at its plant in Louisiana. An explosion at its plant near Savannah killed 13 workers last month.

The alleged violations in Louisiana include the use of dust collectors that were not equipped with an explosion protection system. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration also says, the company failed to store bags of sugar in a stable manner.

Imperial Sugar's C.E.O. says the company doesn't agree with the type and severity of the charges and likely will appeal them.

An investigation into the disaster at Port Wentworth near Savannah hasn't concluded yet, but many suspect the blast was fueled by volatile sugar dust in the air and ignited with some kind of a spark. The February 7th explosion prompted OSHA to inspect hundreds of plants that store combustible dust.

Meanwhile, Congress is considering stronger regulations for combustible dust.

Imperial Sugar begins rebuild in Port Wentworth

Imperial Sugar has broken ground on portions of its Port Wentworth refinery devastated by a deadly explosion. The blast damaged three storage silos beyond repair and completely destroyed a packaging plant. Fourteen employees were killed and dozens more injured in the February blast. Investigators blame the explosion on a buildup of combustible sugar dust.

Wednesday's groundbreaking makes good on a company promise, made just days after the explosion, to rebuild. Workers are being retrained to work in the new facility. Imperial Sugar hopes to complete construction by the summer of next year.

Meanwhile, an 8.7 million dollar fine hangs over the plant. The federal Occupational Health and Safety Administration recommended the fine for egregious violations of safety standards.

Imperial Sugar Co exec to testify

An executive with the Imperial Sugar Company is expected to testify later today to Congress about conditions at the Georgia plant that led to a deadly February explosion. The vice president of operations for Imperial will testify along with several other safety experts--those including the head of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and the chair of the U.S. Chemical Safety Board. A Senate subcommittee has been examining the accident at the Port Wentworth plant after federal investigators found numerous safety violations. Just last week, OSHA proposed nearly nine-million dollars in fines.

10th burn victim dies

The Joseph M. Still Burn Center at Doctors Hospital in Augusta is reporting that one of its 16 patients burned in the Imperial Sugar Co. explosion died this afternoon. Thirteen Imperial Sugar Co. patients from the February 7th explosion remain in critical condition, and two in serious condition. A memorial service for the ten Imperial Sugar Co. employees, who died as a result of the explosion, will be held at the Savannah Civic Center tomorrow at 1 p.m.

Imperial Sugar workers being re-trained

Workers idled by the deadly sugar refinery explosion in Port Wenworth are going back to school. Company officials say the wait between now and when the Imperial Sugar plant could be fully operational is a year they can use to teach employees new skills. Workers will attend 180 hours of classes at Savannah Technical College, both in core subjects like reading and math, but also in company-specific training for technological upgrades that will be in place when areas of the plant begin to re-open.

Imperial Sugar C.E.O. John Sheptor says, he expects that to begin in the fall. "We're just going to take advantage of the opportunity that we have while the refinery is down and give this education opportunity to our associates that they wouldn't otherwise as this large of a number would have been able to take advantage of it," Sheptor says.

Georgia's HOPE scholarship is paying for the bulk of the retraining. A federal report is expected by August 8th on the cause of the blast that killed 13 workers and injured scores more on February 7th.

Perdue 'deeply saddened' over blast deaths (UPDATE)

Smoking ruins of the Imperial Sugar Company, after an explosion last night ripped apart the plant on the Savannah River Friday, Feb. 8, 2008, in Port Wentworth, Ga. (AP Photo/Stephen Morton)

Governor Sonny Perdue, says he and Mrs. Perdue are "deeply saddened" over the explosion and loss of life at the Imperial Sugar Refinery plant in Savannah, Thursday night:

“I want the families of all of those lost, missing or injured to know that they are in our thoughts and prayers. Our emergency personnel responded to the scene, as they always do, with speed and skill and I thank them for their continued dedication as we work to determine what caused this tragic explosion,” Perdue said in a statement released by the Governor's office Friday afternoon.

Update: Crews found the three bodies in tunnels beneath the building, which was reduced to a mass of rubble, twisted beams and mangled metal, Georgia Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner John Oxendine said.

Local authorities said they had not heard of any recoveries.

"We have not had any confirmed deaths yet. I know that for a fact. They are still going through the rubble as we speak," Savanah-Chatham County Police Sgt. Mike Wilson said.

Police Chief Michael Berkow told families of missing workers that rescue efforts at the massive Imperial Sugar Company refinery had shifted to recovery operations hours after the explosion erupted late Thursday. Dozens of the nearly 100 people were working inside at the time of the blast were hurt, many critically burned.

Rescue crews load injured into ambulances for evacuation. (AP Photo)

18 of the injured are being treated at Doctor's Hospital in Augusta, according to latest reports.

Fire officials said they had begun clearing debris so they could move farther into the plant, and predicted the blaze could be extinguished by Friday afternoon. Fire Chief Greg Long said he wasn't giving up hope some of the missing might still be found alive in rooms blocked by debris.

"I have friends that work at this plant," Long said. "I don't want to see a casualty list."

Click here for more GPB News coverage of the disaster.

(With the Associated Press)

No Questions For Chambliss In Imperial Sugar Case

Georgia U.S. Senator Saxby Chambliss will not have to answer questions from a lawyer suing Imperial Sugar on behalf of victims of the refinery explosion last year. Chatham County judge Hermann Coolidge issued a one-paragraph ruling that effectively stops a subpoena issued for Chambliss to testify under deposition. Savannah attorney Mark Tate wanted to question the Senator on whether Imperial Sugar sought Chambliss’ help to defend the company. The February 7th, 2008 explosion at the Port Wentworth refinery killed 14 workers and injured dozens more. Senate attorneys had argued the U.S. Constitution gives Chambliss immunity from taking questions on business in civil lawsuits.

Chambliss blames sugar refinery whistleblower

U.S. Senator Saxby Chambliss -- already facing heat for sharply questioning a whistleblower in a fatal sugar refinery accident outside Savannah -- toughened his criticism Friday by blaming the employee for the February explosion which killed 13 workers. Chambliss has suggested that vice president of operations Graham H. Graham, is trying to deflect his own responsibility by accusing Imperial Sugar Co. executives of resisting safety warnings about the company's plant in Port Wentworth. Graham worked at Imperial for just three months before the accident and says he repeatedly warned executives that the plant was dangerous.

Confidence high for rebuilding sugar plant

A helicopter dumped water from the Savannah River today onto a gutted sugar refinery where six died and two remain missing after an explosion that injured dozens.

Firefighters worked to extinguish molten sugar still burning four days after an explosion at the Imperial Sugar refinery in Port Wentworth near Savannah.

Authorities believe the cause of the disaster was combusting sugar dust. Seventeen people remain hospitalized.

Meanwhile, the plant’s more than 4-hundred workers wait for word on the refinery’s future. Imperial Sugar C-E-O John Sheptor met with employees today in a closed-door meeting. He also met with Port Wentworth Mayor Glenn Jones.

“There’s significant damage, but he was encouraging with some of the things he as telling employees today,” Jones said. “I feel certain that he’s committed, every possible chance, that he will be able to try to get it rebuilt.”

The plant has been a major employer in the town since 1917.

Savannah refinery blast UPDATE

Smoke still billows Friday Feb. 8, 2008, from a section of the Imperial Sugar Company plant after an explosion last night ripped apart the plant on the Savannah River in Port Wentworth, Ga. Six people are uncounted for and more than 50 people were taken to hospitals, and some of them were airlifted to a burn center in Augusta, Ga., 130 miles up the Savannah River. (AP Photo/Stephen Morton)

Authorities in Savannah say the search for missing people after an explosion last night at a sugar refinery will now turn to recovery.

Savannah’s police chief said late this morning authorities expect to find fatalities inside the Imperial Sugar plant. Early reports indicated there were six people missing—Chief Michael Berkow said there could be more.

More than 50 people are now reported injured from the refinery blast, which occurred a little before 8 o’clock last night in the nearby Savannah suburb of Port Wentworth, along the Savannah River. 18 of the injured were airlifted to a burn center 130 miles away in Augusta--most are in critical condition. An 11:30 news conference was scheduled there for updates.

As of late morning, firefighters were still not able to get inside the four-story refinery building due to fires still burning, and the instability of the structure.


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Authorities suspect that sugar dust, often volatile, may be the cause of the blast.