A milling company that prides itself not only on the speed and efficiency of its newly rebuilt corn mill, but on the company’s commitment to safety, has been accused of fraud and conspiracy in connection with an explosion that killed five workers in 2017.
A federal grand jury in Madison issued an indictment on May 11, 2022, alleging Didion Milling Inc. (DMI) and company leaders intentionally violated two federal safety laws by failing to regularly clean dust accumulations from inside the plant which eventually led to a combustible dust explosion that killed five employees and injured more than a dozen others who were working at the plant on the evening of May 31, 2017. .
Among those killed in the explosion were Doyle Block, Robert Godino, Carlos “Charlie” Nunez, Angel Reyes and Paul Tordoff.
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The indictment against DMI and company leaders alleges that between March 2013 and February 2018, the company failed to keep up with federally required cleanups at the Cambria mill and covered up these deficiencies by falsifying records to show to government agencies (OSHA and EPA) that the cleanup had taken place. The federal grand jury also found that the factory’s dust filters were not well ventilated.
Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the Department of Justice’s Division of Environmental and Natural Resources said the indictment named company leaders Vice President Operations Derek Clark, former food safety supervisor Sean Meissner and former shift supervisors Anthony Hess and Joel Niemeyer as conspiring to commit fraud by agreeing to take deceptive actions. In concealment to follow food safety procedures at the factory, including falsifying the cleaning record to hide the fact that DMI did not follow a written cleaning schedule, so that the company could maintain its food safety certification and continue to sell its products to food and beverage manufacturers.
Along with Clark, Meissner, Hess, and Niemeyer, former environmental coordinators James Lenz and Joseph Winch have also been accused of agreeing to conceal violations and unsafe conditions from auditors and government agencies, including providing false testimony to Occupational Safety and Health Administration and Environmental Protection officials.
DMI, Hess, and Clark were also accused of providing false and misleading information to OSHA after the blast regarding their knowledge of the dangers of combustible dust at the Cambria plant.
According to the document, two former DMI directors, Michael Bright and Nicholas Bowker, made pleas of guilt to making false entries in the DMI’s cleaning registry and false entries in the factory’s bag registry. They were not charged in the indictment.
Didion officials issued a statement saying that the explosion was an accident and that they were disappointed that the federal government had decided to make “unjustified accusations”.
“What happened on May 31, five years ago, was a horrific accident, not a criminal act,” the statement said. “While we have fully cooperated with the investigation from day one, we must now respond with a strong and robust defense for the company and our team.”
The US Occupational Safety and Health Administration fined Didion more than $1.8 million in connection with the explosion in the months following the explosion.
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If convicted, the DMI may be required to compensate victims for their losses, or up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $1 million for each crime. The indictment seeks all profits made by Didion from the alleged plot.