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Woodland Pulp Identifies Second Worker Killed in Baileyville Gas Release

Federal investigators are examining a suspected hydrogen sulfide release tied to a chemical mixing event.

Overview

  • Allen Hornberger, 26, died Tuesday after nearly three weeks in critical condition following the Jan. 27 exposure at the bleach plant.
  • Kasie Malcolm, a 20-year-old University of Maine intern, died the morning after the incident, bringing confirmed fatalities to two.
  • Initial information provided to the Chemical Safety Board indicates concentrated sulfuric acid may have mixed with sulfurous compounds in an enclosed process sewer, generating hydrogen sulfide.
  • OSHA and the Chemical Safety Board have active investigations, and the bleach plant remains closed as reviews continue.
  • CSB figures state eight other workers were exposed, and OSHA records show Woodland Pulp was cited 14 times over the past decade, paying about $85,496 in fines.