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WILKES-BARRE — A federal agency has cited a Laflin insulation manufacturer with violations that allegedly exposed workers to combustible dust and other safety hazards, proposing a $66,600 penalty.
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued one willful, four serious, and two other-than-serious citations to US GreenFiber LLC, 1 Passan Drive, Building 2, on April 28, in connection with an Oct. 30, 2015, complaint inspection, OSHA announced in a recent news release.
The inspection determined that GreenFiber failed to protect employees from deflagration, fire and spark hazards by ensuring dust-handling equipment had explosion protection systems such as deflagration venting, automatic suppression and fire/detection systems. One “willful” citation was issued for these hazards, OSHA said.
Deflagration is a type of combustion or rapid burning of a substance driven by the transfer of heat.
Accumulations of cellulose fiber dust on equipment or surfaces, unguarded platforms, lack of fire extinguisher training, and employees exposed to crushing hazards resulted in four “serious” citations.
And two “other-than-serious” violations involved employees allowed to wear dust mask respirators and work with hazardous chemicals without proper training, OSHA said.
“OSHA cited US GreenFiber in 2010 for the same combustible dust hazards at the company’s plant in Ohio. Once again, we have found this company continues to jeopardize its workers’ safety by failing to implement necessary safeguards. This disregard of safety standards is unacceptable,” said Mark Stelmack, OSHA’s area director in Wilkes-Barre.
A representative of GreenFiber did not immediately return a call seeking comment on Thursday.
The employer has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and proposed penalties to comply, request a conference with OSHA’s area director or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
Occupancy issue
The alleged safety violations aren’t the only problem with the manufacturing plant, the Times Leader has learned.
According to Pat Dooley, of the Luzerne County Planning and Zoning Office, no one from the company ever applied for an occupancy permit. The county handles zoning and planning issues for Laflin and several other municipalities.
Dooley said he learned that Valley Distributing and Storage Co. owns the property occupied by GreenFiber, previously referred to in news reports as “U.S. Green Fiber LLC,” but he has been unable to find out much else about it.
While the plant is located in a manufacturing zone, Dooley said an employer must submit a written description of the activities to be conducted in the plant along with an occupancy permit application so the county can determine “if it fits the performance standards for that type of zone.”
Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, GreenFiber manufactures cellulose fiber insulation, fire and sound products, all made with a minimum of 85 percent recycled paper fibers, according to OSHA.
Cellulose fiber is a type of “blown-in insulation” frequently used by contractors to insulate homes and businesses, Ric Aguayo, GreenFiber plant manager, told the Times Leader in June 2015 prior to the company moving its Lehigh Valley manufacturing facility to Laflin.
Aguayo, of Mountain Top, had said the main ingredient of the insulation is unused newspaper.
Locating to Laflin
The company’s decision to relocate its Lehigh Valley operation was made following US GreenFiber’s acquisition of Allentown-based Fiber America in September 2014.
“The company wanted to remain in the northeast,” Aguayo had said. “The cost on a square-footage basis made more sense” in the Wilkes-Barre area.
Aguayo had said some other deciding factors were the proximity to Interstate 81 and 476 junctions, availability of rail service, lower operational costs and availability of a skilled workforce.
US GreenFiber hired 25 people as of June 2015 and had plans to add another 23 jobs to establish its Laflin plant, Aguayo had said. Attempts to determine the number of current employees were unsuccessful on Thursday.
The company has at least eight U.S. manufacturing plants, including the one in Laflin, and sells its products to building supply retailers, manufactured housing builders and insulation contractors in the U.S. and Canada, according to its website. However, a map of plant locations on the company website does not list Pennsylvania as one of its plant sites.