Grand jury likely investigated but did not charge Pacific Steel in 2015 chlorine gas leak that killed employee

The U.S. Attorney’s Office likely impaneled a grand jury to investigate a 2015 chlorine gas leak at Pacific Steel and Recycling that killed one worker and seriously injured four others, according to records obtained by The Spokesman-Review.

Documents from the Environmental Protection Agency in response to a public records request confirm the agency started a criminal investigation into the accident less than a week after it occurred.

Workers at Pacific Steel crushed an unlabeled cylinder containing chlorine gas on Aug. 12, 2015, which caused the gas to escape. A number of workers who inhaled it were hospitalized with lung injuries and respiratory problems.

That investigation ended in October 2016 with no criminal charges. But the EPA denied the release of 164 pages of documents related to the case, citing an exemption in federal law that prohibits the release of grand jury proceedings.

An EPA spokesperson declined to answer questions about whether a grand jury was impaneled. Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington Joe Harrington said he could not confirm or deny that a grand jury was impaneled.

The documents shed additional light on how an unmarked cylinder containing a deadly gas ended up at the Pacific Steel facility, and the errors that led to the accident.

EPA records confirm that investigators traced the cylinder back to Ibex Construction, a now-defunct construction business that operated on North Regal Street in Northeast Spokane.

Ibex’s owners, Tim and Roberta Jackson, are among the defendants in a lawsuit filed by former Pacific Steel employee Felix Shuck in June seeking damages for the severe respiratory issues he suffered as a result of the accident.

Shuck’s suit did not name Pacific Steel. Washington is a no-fault state for worker’s compensation claims, meaning employees are typically not allowed to sue employers for on-the-job injuries.

Shuck’s attorney declined at the time the suit was filed to say whether Shuck had filed a worker’s compensation claim with Pacific Steel. A Washington Department of Labor and Industries spokesman said he could not answer questions about claims against particular companies because claims are confidential.

Mark Meyers, a Seattle-based attorney representing the Jacksons, said the couple closed their business several years ago and sold all their belongings to an auction company, who contracted someone to haul away materials.

“They didn’t send it to the recycling facility. They sold all their tools and vehicles and whatever other things when they closed their business to an auctioneer,” Meyers said.

The couple are now retired and living in Montana, he said.

EPA records suggest the auction company contracted with Beck Industries to remove scrap material, which Beck Industries hauled to Pacific Steel. The alleged driver, Gordon Beck, is also a defendant in the suit.

In a brief filed in Spokane County Superior Court, Beck’s attorney, Brian Sheldon, denied that Beck drove the cylinder to Pacific Steel. He said Shuck’s alleged injuries were the responsibility of parties not involved in the suit, including Pacific Steel.

The EPA released a partially redacted copy of Labor and Industries’ final report into the accident. Those reports are confidential under state law, which only allows for their release in accidents where no one was seriously injured or killed.

According to the report, Pacific Steel employees interviewed following the accident believed the unlabeled cylinder was a “big water tank.” They indicated company policy was to cut a hole and vent all fuel and oil tanks, but that policy did not apply to water tanks.

The company did have an existing rule that tanks, cylinders and containers be punched, de-valved or cleared before being accepted as scrap, but the report notes the policy was not effective in practice. Pacific Steel paid a $6,600 fine for the violations.

The Labor and Industries report notes the tank had no hazard labeling and appeared to have been “removed from service prior to the adoption of modern labeling rules.” Commissioned chlorine tanks “would not be reasonably anticipated” by employees operating the shear.

When it pursues sanctions against a company or individual, the EPA typically seeks civil penalties, but can choose to pursue criminal prosecution. The EPA initiated 213 criminal cases nationwide in 2015, and 170 in 2016, a spokesperson said.

The spokesperson was not sure how many resulted in criminal charges, as those decisions are made by the U.S. Attorney’s offices in various federal district courts.

Meyers said his clients, the owners of Ibex, were told they would not be criminally charged at the end of the EPA investigation.