Current:Home > MyWisconsin corn mill owners plead to federal charges in fatal explosion, will pay $11.25 million-Angel Dreamer Wealth Society D1 Reviews & Insights
Wisconsin corn mill owners plead to federal charges in fatal explosion, will pay $11.25 million
View Date:2024-12-23 16:33:37
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A milling company has agreed to plead guilty to federal charges that employees at a Wisconsin corn plant falsified records in the years leading up to a fatal corn dust explosion.
The plea deal calls for Didion Milling Inc. to pay a $1 million fine and $10.25 million to the estates of the five workers who were killed in the blast at the company’s Cambria mill in May 2017, the Wisconsin State Journal reported.
The company also has agreed to a five-year “organizational probation” and must allow federal inspectors to visit the mill without advance notice up to twice a year.
A federal grand jury indicted Didion last year on nine counts, including falsifying records, fraud and conspiracy. According to court documents, Didion shift employees and supervisors knowingly falsified logbooks inspectors use to determine whether the plant was handling corn dust safely and complying with dust-cleaning rules from 2015 until May 2017.
Corn dust is combustible; if concentrations in the air reach a high level a spark or other ignition source can cause it to catch fire and explode. Federal regulations require grain mill operators to perform regular cleanings to reduce dust accumulations that could fuel a blast.
Didion last month agreed to pay the Wisconsin Department of Justice $940,000 to settle a lawsuit alleging multiple regulatory violations at the Cambria plant.
A Didion spokesperson didn’t immediate respond to an email from The Associated Press seeking comment on the plea deal.
Three Didion officials — Derrick Clark, who was vice president of operations; Shawn Mesner, who was food safety superintendent; and James Lentz, who was environmental manager — are scheduled to stand trial Monday in federal court in Madison on charges that include conspiracy, fraud and falsifying records.
veryGood! (9)
Related
- Video ‘bares’ all: Insurers say bear that damaged luxury cars was actually a person in a costume
- Pisces Shopping Horoscope 2023: 11 Soft, Sweet & Feelings-y Gifts for Your Favorite Fish
- Pipeline sabotage is on the agenda in this action-packed eco-heist film
- A monument of Harriet Tubman now replaces a statue of Christopher Columbus in Newark
- Kevin Costner Shares His Honest Reaction to John Dutton's Controversial Fate on Yellowstone
- Austin Butler Responds to Zoey 101 Sequel Movie Casting Rumors
- Behati Prinsloo Shares First Photo With Adam Levine Since Welcoming Baby No. 3
- Why J Balvin Prioritizes Teaching His Son About Love and Being Happy
- The Best Gifts for Men – That He Won’t Want to Return
- Rebel Wilson and Ramona Agruma Are Engaged
Ranking
- Watch as dust storm that caused 20-car pileup whips through central California
- The 12th Victim: The Truth About the Murder Spree That Inspired Every Onscreen Killer Couple
- 'Succession' Season 4, Episode 3: 'Connor's Wedding'
- 'Wait Wait' for April 15, 2023: With Not My Job guest Kaila Mullady
- Trump's election has women swearing off sex with men. It's called the 4B movement.
- UNLV Football Player Ryan Keeler Dead at 20
- The 92 Best Presidents’ Day Deals on Home, Tech, and Travel Products: Apple, Dyson, Roku, Ninja, and More
- Japan's Kenzaburo Oe, a Nobel-winning author of poetic fiction, dies at 88
Recommendation
-
Patricia Heaton criticizes media, 'extremists' she says 'fear-mongered' in 2024 election
-
Poetry-loving Biden heads to Ireland, home of the 'best poets in the world'
-
Lance Reddick, star of 'John Wick' and 'The Wire,' dead at 60
-
Paul Wesley Files For Divorce From Ines de Ramon Amid Her Rumored Romance With Brad Pitt
-
The Best Gifts for People Who Don’t Want Anything
-
'Swarm' is about how we're doing fandom wrong
-
Why Jeremy Strong Has Succession Fans Thinking Season 4 Will Be the Last
-
'Beef' is about anger, emptiness, and the meaning of life