Toxic salt ‘avalanche’ killed man repairing equipment, South Carolina lawsuit says
A man helping repair equipment at an industrial plant died after he was buried in an “avalanche of salt cake” in an industrial accident in South Carolina, according to a lawsuit.
Lawrence Ray Shiner Jr. was working to repair a 145-foot-tall boiler at a paper mill in North Charleston when he was buried in toxic salt residue in 2017, the lawsuit says. The suit says two companies were supposed to clean out the residue from the 13-story boiler before Shiner went in for repairs.
Kapstone Paper and Packaging, which owns the mill, hired two companies to clean out the boiler, according to court documents. The lawsuit, filed last week in Charleston County, argues Palmetto Industrial Services and Thompson Industrial Services, which were supposed to make sure the boilers were safe for repairs, are responsible for Shiner’s death.
As Shiner and his coworkers were underneath the boiler working on the machine, one of the other workers “heard a loud rumble sound and then watched as a massive amount of salt cake fell from above onto Mr. Shiner,” the lawsuit says.
“The avalanche of salt cake immediately engulfed Mr. Shiner’s body,” according to the suit. Shiner’s work partner was buried up to his neck, but people nearby were able to rescue him, the lawsuit says.
A rescue squad at the plant was at the accident site within minutes and started to dig Shiner out from under the salt cake, and were soon joined by city firefighters and county first responders, but it was too late, the lawsuit says.
Shiner suffocated under the “toxic residual salt cake,” according to the court filing.
Shiner was 60 years old at the time of his death and lived in Moncks Corner, South Carolina, WCIV reported at the time.
Kapstone, which is now owned by WestRock, has been cited and fined several times for unsafe working conditions after Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspections, according to WCSC.
“No one from Palmetto Industrial Services, Thompson Industrial Services or WestRock has responded to requests for a comment on the lawsuit,” the TV station reports.
“Our primary concern is for the privacy and welfare of the families involved and for the safety and well-being of employees working on our site,” KapStone Paper spokesman Larry Cobb said after the accident in 2017, WCBD reports.
