A picture of Kasie Malcolm at a memorial service in March. Malcolm was one of two men who died from exposure to a chemical leak at the Woodland Pulp paper mill. (Photo by Staff Writer Rachel Estabrook)

The operator of a Washington County paper mill willfully violated workplace safety laws, resulting in the deaths of two young men in January, federal investigators said Thursday.

Twenty-year-old chemical engineering intern Kasie Malcolm and 26-year-old process engineer Allen Hornberger died of complications of hydrogen sulfide exposure when they were working at the Woodland Pulp mill in Baileyville, the Maine medical examiner’s office determined.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration fined Woodland Pulp $794,456 this week. The mill, which has 15 days to contest the penalties, has been owned since 2010 by International Grand Investment Corporation, whose directors are based in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

“This is an incredibly large violation,” within what OSHA is allowed to assess, said Elizabeth Kayatta, the attorney representing Hornberger’s and Malcolm’s parents.

A “willful” violation is OSHA’s highest category and comes with a $165,514 maximum penalty. The agency issued four willful citations for exposing workers to deadly levels of hydrogen sulfide gas without proper alarms or breathing devices and allowing overflow wood pulp to build up in storage areas.

OSHA’s findings echo the preliminary results of an investigation another federal agency, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board, released this month. That board documented a series of safety failures at the paper mill, including that it lacked alarms, tracking systems and ventilation to protect employees from the toxic gas.

Unlike the chemical safety board, OSHA has the ability to fine employers. In addition to the willful violations, it cited Woodland Pulp for eight “serious” citations, a lower category, related to the Jan. 27 gas leak and a subsequent incident on March 7 when a chemical fire broke out.

Woodland Pulp spokesman Scott Beal said in an email that he could not comment on OSHA’s findings because “other related investigations are pending.” He did not specify which ones, but OSHA’s investigation is still open during the period when the company can contest and the chemical board is still investigating as well. Additionally, the Portland Press Herald has reported that Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey is also investigating the incident, though his office did not confirm its involvement.

In the past, Woodland Pulp, like other employers, has successfully lowered its fine amounts. However, documents obtained by the Press Herald through a public records request show that after a 2024 inspection, OSHA took the opposite action and decided to increase the penalty it had assessed by 10%, because the company “has OSHA history and violations of high gravity within the last five years.”

DOCUMENTED FAILURES

Malcolm and Hornberger were found inside the bleach plant of the paper mill around 6:30 p.m. on Jan. 27.

Nearly three hours earlier, as workers were preparing the mill for a temporary shutdown, an ambulance was dispatched to the site. Eddie Moreside, director of Downeast EMS, said they went to check out a couple of employees with minor symptoms like headaches. A union representative has said some had itchy eyes and throats.

That has led Malcolm’s family and friends to wonder if they could’ve been found inside the bleach plant sooner, and if that could’ve saved them. The federal reports go partway to answering these questions.

The chemical safety board found that 10 employees, other than Hornberger and Malcolm, experienced burning eyes and throats and headaches, and at that point, Woodland Pulp employees discovered the high hydrogen sulfide levels. They began an emergency response, the chemical board said, and were able to dissipate the hydrogen sulfide gas.

But the company also did not keep track of who was in the building and where they were during this “horrible incident,” the board found. Hornberger and Malcolm were discovered hours after the gas leaked, leaving them exposed without assistance.

It’s one of several ways the chemical board noted Woodland Pulp failed to protect the employees’ safety.

OSHA’s news release included fewer details on its findings, and the agency did not immediately provide a copy of the full report or a breakdown of how the fines were assessed. Kayatta, whose clients received more detail on the citations, said the types of violations range from emergency response procedures to safety planning and equipment deficiencies.

The chemical board’s update on its investigation noted the company didn’t provide personal hydrogen sulfide monitors that would’ve alerted employees to the presence of the toxic gas, and there were no hydrogen sulfide detectors installed in the building where the release happened. There was also no ventilation system in the building.

“As we’ve learned more information that’s been uncovered during these governmental investigations, we have concerns about what was happening at this plant since it was acquired by the International Grand Investment Corporation,” Kayatta said.

When the agencies’ full findings are released, the families will make decisions about potential litigation, she said.

The gas leak happened during a shutdown procedure at the paper mill. The board noted that Woodland Pulp was shutting down temporarily because of the high price of natural gas in January, which had increased its costs. During the shutdown, hydrogen sulfide built up in a sewer pipe but a scrubber fan meant to remove the toxic gas was already turned off. The gas was able to escape through holes and process openings in the equipment.

OSHA’s announcement Thursday said it investigated Woodland Pulp in 2017 for a chemical exposure in the same area covered by the current inspections.

Chemical safety board member Sylvia Johnson said Woodland Pulp was aware of the hazards, and didn’t have adequate systems to monitor and mitigate the hazards.

The board said it will release more findings in the future. Its role is to make safety recommendations to companies, industry organizations, labor groups, as well as regulators like OSHA and the Environmental Protection Agency.

Paper mills, like other industrial worksites, are known to be dangerous. They have many toxic chemicals on site, along with heavy equipment. Woodland Pulp’s annual logs show that since 2021 employees have sustained injuries that included burns, a torn knee ligament and a crushed finger, among other injuries, but before this year, no one had died.

In paper and pulp manufacturing across the country, 10 people have died per year on average since 2011, according to data from the U.S. Department of Labor. None were in Maine. 

Within the state, it’s rare to die on the job in any industry, particularly from exposures to chemicals. Four people in Maine died from workplace incidents related to any harmful substances or environments in 2024, the most recent year U.S. Department of Labor data is available. However, 2026 has already been a deadly year. Three people died as a result of the Robbins Lumber mill explosion and fire that happened May 15.

OSHA has documented an average of six deaths a year nationwide from hydrogen sulfide exposures at worksites over the most recent five-year period; none of them were in the paper industry and none were in Maine. Most involved pumping, cleaning and maintenance work.

The investigation of the Jan. 27 gas leak is the 12th OSHA inspection at Woodland Pulp in the past decade. 

A 13th inspection was opened March 12 after Woodland Pulp attempted to restart operations. During the restart, 4,000 gallons of hydrogen peroxide leaked, but no one was hurt and a company spokesman said the facility wasn’t damaged.

The fines OSHA announced Thursday include violations related to the March incident, including a lack of worker training on hydrogen peroxide risks.