California Department of Industrial Relations | California Ranch Foods has pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts after the deaths of two workers.

The victims, Baldemar Gonsales and Maria Osyguss, died after a malfunction in the facility’s nitrogen system led to a hazardous gas release on 1 December 2020.

Cal/OSHA’s investigation found critical failures in safety procedures and training related to the handling of pressurized gas systems.

The case stems from a criminal referral by Cal/OSHA’s Bureau of Investigations (BOI) and was prosecuted by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.

Under the terms of the plea agreement, California Ranch Foods must:

• Invest $1.6 million in safety improvements at the facility.
• Pay $50,000 to BOI to support enforcement efforts.
• Serve three years of probation.
• Pay a $1 million criminal fine.
• Donate $4 million to local food banks.
• Acknowledge a $35 million civil settlement with the victims’ families.

NJ.com | New Jersey reached a $2 billion settlement with DuPont and several of its entities to resolve a lawsuit over “forever chemical” contamination at four industrial sites, which state officials called the largest environmental settlement ever achieved by a single state.

DuPont de Nemours and Co. will spend $875 million to clean up contamination of PFAS (short for polyfluoroalkyl and perfluoroalkyl substances), which the company used for decades in its Teflon production. The materials, often known as part of a set of materials known as “forever chemicals,” have been linked to various cancers and birth defects.

About $125 million from the $875 million is being designated for damages, the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office said. To ensure that no public funds will be used for the cleanup, DuPont will create a $1.2 billion funding source, as well as a $475 million reserve fund, in the event that the company goes bankrupt or fails to make its payments.

DuPont and its entities agreed to make payments for the next 25 years, the Attorney General’s Office said.

The settlement ends litigation filed in 2019, as part of a broader effort to amend decades of contamination. It comes after about a month-long trial in U.S. District Court, the Attorney General’s Office said.

The settlement is New Jersey’s third major victory in PFAS-related litigation in roughly the past two years.

As part of the lawsuit, New Jersey also targeted Chemours, which was spun off from DuPont in 2015, a move critics saw as an effort to shed DuPont of its hefty environmental pollution baggage.

In a statement, DuPont, headquartered in Delaware, said it will purchase $150 million in insurance proceeds from Chemours for PFAS claims. After the company recovers $150 million and related fees, Chemours will be entitled to its 50% share of further insurance recoveries, DuPont said.

The agreement will also resolve three other lawsuits regarding specific sites in New Jersey, the statewide claims for the firefighting material known as aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) and DuPont and its related entities’ responsibilities under a PFAS statewide directive, the Attorney General’s Office said.

The most notable facility in the litigation is a plant in Pompton Plains, where DuPont spent decades producing munitions materials. Byproducts gradually trickled into the environment, including lakes, streams, and rivers, eventually coming into contact with humans. At the time New Jersey filed its lawsuit, more than 300 homes in the town were equipped with filters to prevent harmful chemicals from seeping into their basements.

U.S. Department of Labor | U.S. Department of Labor safety inspectors have cited Keystone Foods LLC, a distributor for Tyson Foods, for allegedly failing to protect employees against fire and explosion hazards at its Camilla, Georgia, poultry plant.

The department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) determined that on 26 December 2024, two workers at the plant, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Tyson Foods Inc., were seriously burned when a hose filled with oil ruptured, igniting the oil mist and causing a fire and explosion in the boiler room.

Inspectors concluded Keystone Foods did not ensure workers followed proper internal procedures nor the manufacturer’s guidelines when conducting maintenance on its boiler pump.

OSHA issued Keystone Foods a citation for a serious violation under the OSH Act’s general duty clause and proposed penalties of $16,550.

The company has 15 business days from receipt of their citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

U.S. Department of Labor | The U.S. Department of Labor has cited an Orlando target-missile manufacturer for exposing workers to fire, burn, and inhalation hazards, after a December 2024 fire at its facility, hospitalizing two employees and injuring others.

Investigators with the department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) found that two employees of Aerojet Rocketdyne Coleman Aerospace Inc. were severely burned, and another sustained injuries from burns and smoke inhalation while they worked on a missile component.

OSHA also determined that the employer exposed other workers to burn and inhalation hazards from incorrectly stored and handled explosives and from failing to classify the physical hazards of a highly reactive chemical.

Aerojet Rocketdyne was cited with one wilful and six serious violations, with proposed penalties totalling $262,451.

The employer has 15 business days from receipt of the citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

U.S. Department of Labor | OSHA has cited The Salvation Army after a 54-year-old maintenance worker died following a fall at an Orlando donation centre in November 2024.

OSHA found the worker was repairing a roof leak when he fell. The Salvation Army received a repeat violation for fall hazards and five serious citations for failures in hazard assessment, training and machine guarding.

Two “other-than-serious” violations followed for delayed fatality reporting and lack of a hazard communication programme. Penalties total $120,817.

United States Environmental Protection Agency | EPA has settled violations of the Toxic Substances Control Act by BASF Corporation.

BASF agreed to a $700,000 penalty and certified full compliance after failing to report hundreds of substances during the 2020 TSCA reporting period at its New Jersey headquarters.

U.S. Department of Labor | OSHA cited Art Stone-Granite and Marble Inc. for repeat and serious safety violations after a follow-up inspection in Marietta.

Five months after an April 2024 inspection, OSHA found the stone-manufacturer had still not put in place hearing-conservation or respiratory-protection programmes. They were cited for two repeat and 13 serious violations.

The company will pay $120,000 in penalties, correct the hazards and implement preventive measures.

Washington State Department of Labor and Industries | A Richland company faces $1.25 million in fines for multiple violations of the farm labour contractor law.

The Washington State Department of Labor and Industries fined Pacific Agri Services LLC following an August 2024 investigation—its largest farm labour contractor fine to date.

The company operated without a licence and failed to inform nearly 5,000 workers in writing about pay, work type, schedule, housing and transport, depriving them of their rights under state law.

State law also mandates minimum wage, safe transport, rest breaks and disclosure forms. Pacific Agri Services initially withheld required records and later admitted transporting 4,950 domestic and 26 H2-A workers without up-to-date disclosure forms. This resulted in a $1.24 million fine, plus $5,000 for unlicensed operation and $1,000 for record failures. The company has appealed.

United States Environmental Protection Agency | EPA announced a Clean Air Act settlement with Nalco Production LLC and Nalco Co. LLC.

Nalco’s Chicago facility will pay $401,300 in penalties after EPA found failures to develop hazard assessments, provide process safety information, secure procedures, inspect equipment, and implement incident investigation and risk management plans.

The companies will inspect ventilation and relief systems, add sensors, revise record-keeping and training, and update incident-investigation procedures.

U.S. Department of Labor | OSHA reached a settlement with John Troyer after a teen worker’s fatal fall in March 2023.

OSHA found Troyer Construction LLP failed to provide required fall protection for roofing work, and the Wage and Hour Division found illegal minor employment from May 2022 to June 2023. Under the agreement, Troyer must pay $290,000 in OSHA, child labor, and DOJ fines, and enroll in Missouri’s On-Site Safety and Health Consultation Program.

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