A Battle Ground dairy bottling company was fined almost $2 million by the Washington Department of Labor & Industries for amputations, crush injuries and broken bones that resulted from safety violations.
Andersen Dairy Inc., also known as Anderson Plastics and Green Willow Trucking, triggered an investigation after a worker suffered a crushed hand in a plastic-bottle molding machine while trying to clear a jam, according to a news release from Washington L&I.
In the past six years, 10 serious accidents and 22 willful violations occurred at Andersen Dairy, the news release stated.
The $1,848,000 fine was the second largest in L&I’s history, according to the news release.
Jack Dunn, president of Andersen Dairy Inc., did not respond to a request for a comment Tuesday.
Feds expand criminal probe of auto industry
Federal prosecutors on Tuesday expanded a criminal investigation of the auto industry by charging a Fiat Chrysler engineer with rigging pollution tests on over 100,000 diesel pickup trucks and SUVs sold in the U.S., the first indictment since similar cases against Volkswagen and its managers.
The alleged scheme involving Emanuele Palma isn’t as large as the Volkswagen emissions scandal, which involved nearly 600,000 vehicles. But the charges show that investigators are still on the case, months after Fiat Chrysler agreed to a $650 million civil settlement and said it would fix Jeep Grand Cherokees and Ram 1500 trucks with “EcoDiesel” engines made between 2014 and 2016.
Palma is charged with conspiracy, violations of the federal Clean Air Act, wire fraud and making false statements.
