$1M in fines after nitrogen kills 6 at Georgia poultry plant

ATLANTA (AP) — Federal workplace safety officials are proposing nearly $1 million in fines against four companies following a January liquid nitrogen leak that killed six workers at a northeast Georgia poultry processing plant.

U.S. Labor Secretary Marty Walsh announced the citations and fines by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration on Friday.

Foundation Food Group, which owns the Gainesville plant, was cited for 26 violations with a proposed fine of $595,474. Packers Sanitation Services Ltd., which provided cleaning services at the plant, was cited for 19 violations with a proposed fine of $286,720. Messer LLC, which delivered the nitrogen, was cited for six violations and faces a proposed fine of $74,118. FS Group Inc, which manufacturers and services equipment, was cited for eight violations with a proposed fine of $42,325.

OSHA fines and citations are often lowered following informal and formal appeal processes.

Foundation Food did not immediately reply to an email seeking comment.

The plant takes chicken slaughtered elsewhere and prepares items such as patties and nuggets for food service operations, freezing them for shipment.

It was a new freezing line that went horribly wrong on the morning of Jan. 28, sending a cloud of liquid nitrogen vapor into a room that was below the floor level of the rest of the plant. Workers tried to flee, but found some exits blocked, investigations have found.

Six workers died from “asphyxia due to, or as a consequence of liquid nitrogen exposure" including 45-year-old Jose DeJesus Elias-Cabrera of Gainesville; 35-year-old Corey Alan Murphy of Clermont; 28-year-old Nelly Perez-Rafael of Gainesville; 41-year-old Saulo Suarez-Bernal of Dawsonville; 38-year-old Victor Vellez of Gainesville; and 28-year-old Edgar...