DuPont, Buffalo Contractor Cited, Fined For Violations Leading to Welding Explosion

E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. and a Buffalo, N.Y., contractor allegedly committed 17 safety violations related to a 2010 explosion that killed one worker and injured another, according to the Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which proposed more than $110,000 in fines against the companies.

In November 2010, an employee of contractor Mollenberg-Betz Inc. was welding atop a 10,000 gallon slurry tank when a spark caused a deadly explosion. The blast injured a second employee of Mollenberg-Betz.

OSHA cited both companies for allowing welding in an explosive atmosphere, welding without disconnecting the pipelines to the tank, ...