Spokane, Washington, WTE plant cited for violations

Officials in Washington state have wrapped up their investigation into the accident at the Spokane waste-to-energy plant that seriously burned two employees at Spokane's waste-to-energy plant last October.

The Washington State Department of Labor and Industries (L&I) cited the waste to energy plant for 10 violations discovered during this accident investigation.

The city reportedly faces up to more than $59,000 in fine. The injured workers Larry Pratt and Craig Law, still both work for the city of Spokane. Law is on light duty, while Pratt is still recovering. The pair climbed into one of the incinerator's boilers back on Oct. 4, 2016, to patch a small leak.

The boiler was shut down when the leak was discovered and Pratt and Law entered the boiler to make a welding repair when they were engulfed in a plume of steam. A spokesperson for the city of Spoken told KXLY.com the two were using water to remove bits of material off the walls when it came into contact with a piece of molten material, causing the steam burst.

The investigation reportedly determined the men’s clothing and protective suits were not designed to deflect intense heat. Investigators also allege the injured workers had not received specific training about the dangers of hosing down clinkers that were still that hot. The citations include lack of training and proper protective equipment

City officials say in the article, they have already made changes in operations and plan to make more improvements based on L&I's findings.

For example, employees at the WTE facility are no longer allowed to conduct the de-klinkering with water. Instead, small charges are being used to knock down the material with no one actually in the boiler.

The city of Spokane has 15 days to appeal the citations. Many of the abatement measures are required to be in place by the end of April.