BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (AP) — Kern County officials have shut down a recycling plant where two workers died.
The Bakersfield Californian reports (http://bit.ly/uFSsii) that the county Board of Supervisors voted unanimously on Tuesday to revoke the permit of Lamont-based Community Recycling & Resource Recovery Inc. They also fined the company $2.3 million for land use and other alleged violations.
Company principal Tom Fry declined to comment after the vote.
Sixteen-year-old Armando Ramirez and 22-year-old Heladio Ramirez died at the facility in October after inhaling hydrogen sulfide, a byproduct of compost. The brothers were cleaning out a drainage tunnel at the time.
State and federal officials are investigating the incident.
The decision to shut the plant down came after California safety officials found that the company this month repeatedly violated an order prohibiting anyone from coming with six feet of the drainage tunnels.
Information from: The Bakersfield Californian, www.bakersfield.com
