Wisconsin corn mill owners plead to federal charges in fatal explosion, will pay $11.25 million

Source: Associated Press

Wisconsin corn mill owners plead to federal charges in fatal explosion, will pay $11.25 million

Updated 4:48 PM EDT, September 28, 2023

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 Thursday.

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.

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Read more: https://apnews.com/article/wisconsin-corn-mill-explosion-plea-agreement-fd0b0e408e83fb002de52254b52b2c83