US agency concludes chemical leak that killed 6 Georgia poultry workers was `completely preventable'
A federal agency says a chemical leak that killed six workers at a Georgia poultry plant in 2021 could have been prevented
A chemical leak that killed six workers at a Georgia poultry plant in 2021 resulted from a poorly designed freezer that spilled deadly liquid nitrogen as well as a failure by the plant's owner to install safety equipment and properly train employees for emergencies, a federal agency has concluded.
“This needless and senseless tragedy was completely preventable,” U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board Chairman Steve Owens said in a statement accompanying a 116-page report by the agency's investigators.
A freezer used to instantly freeze chicken at the Foundation Food Group plant in Gainesville, Georgia, overflowed with liquid nitrogen that spilled into the surrounding room on Jan. 28, 2021. On contact with the air, the chemical vaporized into an odorless gas, forming a cloud up to 5 feet (1.5 meters) high.
Two workers who were performing maintenance on the freezer died from asphyxiation, the agency said, and four more were killed as other employees tried to rescue their colleagues. Three additional workers and a firefighter were seriously injured.
Located roughly 60 miles (100 kilometers) northeast of Atlanta, Gainesville is the hub of Georgia's $4.3 billion poultry industry.
The Foundation Food Group plant and others in the area rely heavily on a Latino workforce. Five of the workers killed in the 2021 chemical leak were Mexican citizens.
Federal investigators found the freezer had a bent tube, likely damaged during maintenance, that disabled its ability to monitor and regulate liquid nitrogen levels — allowing the chemical to fill and then leak from the freezer. The agency faulted the
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