WASHINGTON — Tampa Electric Company, or TECO, admitted to failing to hold a pre-job briefing with workers tasked to remove debris from one of the company's slag tanks at the Big Bend Power Station electrical plant before it exploded in June 2017.
Had that safety meeting occurred, the Department of Justice continued in a news release, the workers would have learned of procedures for water-blasting work. The agency said "critical safety-related steps were not taken," including reducing the amount of coal entering the furnace and shutting the unit down after a certain period of time.
Five contractors and a TECO employee were at work when the explosion happened on June 29, 2017. Two people were killed in the explosion, while three others died after being taken to the hospital.
The utility company earlier in May pleaded guilty. Earlier court documents state TECO negotiated with each of the workers' families and privately settled with them in civil court. It also agreed to pay a $500,000 fine, the Associated Press reports.
TECO's Apollo Beach plant at the time had four large, coal-fired furnaces. A byproduct of the furnaces was molten slag, which can reach 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit.
Rather than shutting down the furnace, the DOJ said, the workers began to use high-pressure water "without observance of several safety-related procedures required by law."
It is a class B misdemeanor to willfully fail to follow an Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OHSA, safety standard, the DOJ said in its release.
"Had TECO complied with OSHA’s workplace safety standards, conducted a pre-job briefing and followed its own procedure, these senseless deaths could have been prevented," U.S. Attorney Roger B. Handberg for the Middle District of Florida said in a statement. "Our hearts go out to the victims’ families as well as other TECO employees and contractors impacted by this catastrophic event.
"Our office is proud to have partnered with DOJ’s Environmental Crimes Section to shine a light on this willful violation of OSHA safety standards in order to deter such conduct and ensure that workers are protected in the future."
In a statement, TECO said it accepts responsibility.
"All of us at Tampa Electric hold the families of our late colleagues and coworkers in our hearts. We have accepted full responsibility, and we hold ourselves accountable as we continuously work to improve our safety programs and safety culture," TECO president and COE Archie Collins said in the statement. "I want to thank our dedicated employees at Big Bend, and throughout the company, for their efforts to honor the memories of those lost and injured, as well as their commitment to provide our customers with safe, reliable electricity – while maintaining a safety-first mindset every minute of every day."