An executive at Imperial Sugar Co. says he found conditions so bad at a Georgia sugar refinery prior to an explosion that killed 13 people that he recommended immediately firing the plant manager.
Safety plates were missing on electrical gear and piles of discarded sugar and other materials littered the Port Wentworth, Ga., plant, Imperial’s vice president of operations, Graham H. Graham, said in written testimony for a Senate hearing Tuesday.
A Senate subcommittee on workplace safety is reviewing the February accident after a federal investigation found Imperial violated safety standards. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has proposed nearly $9 million in fines, saying the blast was fueled by an excessive buildup of sugar dust.