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Two years after fatal explosion, Struthers resolves all state citations
By EMMALEE C. TORISK
STRUTHERS
In more than 30 years as its manager, Bob Gentile has always viewed the city’s waste-treatment plant as a safe working environment.
That’s why, when he received a phone call two years ago today notifying him of the explosion there that severely burned two men, and eventually resulted in their deaths, he couldn’t believe it.
He remembers not knowing exactly what had caused the accident but that it was serious and that he had to return immediately to the area. He’d been several states away at the time.
“We’re all like a family here,” Gentile said.
The Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation began investigating the March 1, 2012, explosion not long afterward, eventually determining that methane gas had built up in the plant’s gas-compression room.
Gary Wilson, 59, an assistant maintenance worker at the plant, and Ken Stiver, 57, the plant’s lead maintenance employee, had been working on wiring there, when a spark ignited the methane gas, causing the explosion.
From the blast, Wilson and Stiver suffered second- and third-degree burns over 95 percent of their bodies, and remained in the burn unit of UPMC Mercy Hospital in Pittsburgh until their deaths on March 29, 2012, and April 16, 2012, respectively.
The OBWC issued 10 citations to the city in August 2012 — all of which were classified as serious hazards. Seven out of those 10 were rectified by Nov. 1, 2012, with the remaining three citations addressed in 2013.
The deadline for those three was extended from Feb. 1, 2013, to the end of the year, as they couldn’t be abated until construction was finished at the plant, which had been damaged by the explosion, said Mayor Terry Stocker.
“Whatever we had to fix, we fixed,” Stocker added. “We did what we needed to do.”
The city and its insurance company, Ohio Plan Risk Management Inc., filed a lawsuit Thursday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court against nine companies they “believe may be responsible for the tragic explosion,” Stocker said in a statement.
The city and Ohio Plan Risk Management Inc., a self-insured pool, “are seeking reimbursement for the sums that they paid out as a result of that explosion,” according to the statement.
Though Stocker wouldn’t comment further on how much the city is seeking, he added that parties might be added or dropped, depending on how the matter progresses.
The Cleveland-based law firm of Gallagher Sharp is handling the lawsuit, Stocker said.
Among the citations addressed in 2012 were those regarding training for workers on electrical hazards; de-energizing gas compressor control-circuit parts before working on them; locking or tagging the circuits that energize the current-carrying parts; establishing and providing access to written electrical energy-control procedures for maintenance workers; and the wearing of proper protective equipment.
Other abatements that year dealt with the use of instruments not approved for use in a given location, along with the use of insulated tools or equipment in case of contact with current-carrying parts.
In 2013, the city conducted a fire- and explosion-risk evaluation of wastewater treatment and collection operations to identify where gas is accumulating, per a citation stating that the city exposed its workers to the hazards of fire and explosion from the ignition of methane gas.
It also addressed the lack of space for employees to work away from grounded and ungrounded pipes and other equipment, as well as the marking of electrical switches, circuits and other equipment to warn workers of potential hazards.
Though all of the state’s citations have been addressed, Stocker said the city continues to do what it can to ensure that what he referred to as “the most horrific event that ever hit the city of Struthers” isn’t repeated.
“We lost two of our friends, our co-workers. Our hearts go out to them every day, and it’s something that never leaves you,” Stocker said. “We’re doing what we can to make sure that everybody down here feels safe coming to work every day.”
Gentile added that Wilson and Stiver, along with the families they left behind, remain in his prayers. Both men were “very good guys,” he said, and there wasn’t anything the two of them couldn’t fix.
“Any accident can happen in a working environment,” Gentile said, “but I feel that this plant is a very safe plant, and I always thought that.”