BY EARNEST WINSTON and CAMERON McWHIRTER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
As early as this week, citations could be issued to Dravo Lime Co. over last week's death of a veteran chemist who was killed when 600 tons of gravel from a storage bin fell on him.
Rodney Brown, spokesman for the U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) in Arlington, Va., said Tuesday the citations could come "in the next few days."
An MSHA official said the Dravo plant in Carntown, Ky., where the worker was killed did not have a history of excessive safety violations and the accident came as a surprise to inspectors.
"It's a little more than average, but on the other hand many of the violations are minor. It was not out of hand," said Martin Rosta, district manager for MSHA's southeast district.
On Oct. 12, the bottom of the silo collapsed at Dravo's Black River Division in Carntown. The collapse dropped a 600-ton pile of lime gravel and killed quality-control chemist Michael Sanzere, 45, of Dayton, Ky. He was working in a building underneath the silo. MSHA officials are overseeing an investigation into the fatal accident but have not given a cause.
Last week, MSHA officials completed an on-site investigation at Dravo and said the findings of the overall investigation will be made public in about six weeks, Mr. Brown said.
Mr. Rosta would not comment on the ongoing investigation except to say, "it was something that came as a surprise from our point of view."
Data provided by MSHA showed the plant had been inspected 39 times since 1995, and Dravo had been cited for 196 violations. Of those violations, 84 -- almost 43 percent -- were deemed "s - s," serious and substantial.
The "s - s" violations included problems with maintaining guardrails, testing explosive dusts, moving machine parts, protecting conveyors and properly stacking and storing materials.
In 1995, the plant had 18 serious and substantial violations. In 1996, it had nine. In 1997, it had 27 and to date this year, it has had 30.
"If I look at the list of a three-year history, this is not going to make my eyes pop out," Mr. Rosta said.
Mr. Rosta's district, headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., covers nine states, including Kentucky. His district is responsible for inspecting about 1,700 facilities.
MSHA is required to have at least two inspections ayear to any above-ground operations and four visits a year to underground operations.
Dravo company officials said they will not comment on the accident until MSHA has completed its investigation.
