Mill Fined $800,000 after Two Workers Die from Gas Exposure

heat rule

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration fined Woodland Pulp Mill in Baileyville, Maine $794,456 after two employees, including a 20-year-old college intern, died from exposure to uncontrolled hydrogen sulfide gas during a cold weather shutdown on Jan. 27.
Investigators cited the mill for failing to have proper alarms or breathing devices in place and for allowing wood pulp to overflow and build up in storage areas.
The mill has been inspected 13 times over the past nine years, racking up 14 separate violations, and previously saw 14 employees hospitalized in 2017 after a chemical exposure in the same area now covered by the current citations.
The mill has 15 days to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA, or contest the findings.

The Department of Labor is revising Biden-era proposed rules that would have required employers to provide breaks, water, and shade for workers once the heat index hits 80 degrees, while Congress separately considers legislation that would bar the agency from adopting the Biden heat plan or anything similar.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has also scaled back its heat-focused inspection initiative, renewing the program in April and it has ceased targeted inspections on workplaces or facilities that may be exposed to worker heat illness risks.
Many observers expected Biden’s proposed rules to disappear once President Trump returned to the White House, but Trump administration carried out a scheduled public hearing on the Biden heat rule proposal in June 2025. Last month, the administration published plans to continue that rule-making process — but with significant revisions planned for release by the end of this year. The measure could become final in 2027.
Labor advocates warn that low-wage immigrant workers in agriculture and other high-heat industries bear the brunt of reduced oversight, since they often fear retaliation or deportation if they report unsafe conditions, while business groups including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce argue most employers already adequately protect workers and say the original Biden proposal was poorly designed, even as some in industry have called the competing congressional bill overly broad.