BP to pay $13 million to settle most remaining safety violations at Texas refinery. The agreement struck with the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration clears most violations that authorities found in 2009 in a follow-up inspection stemming from a deadly 2005 explosion at the refinery. The Texas City, Texas blast killed 15 workers and injured 180 others. BP’s settlement resolves all but 30 of 439 violations and advances its efforts to sell the refinery, which it hopes to accomplish by year’s end to help cover costs from its 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Reuters, The Wall Street Journal
Kentucky miner’s death leads to proposed fines of $594,100. The U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration is seeking the penalties from Manalapan Mining following the death last year of David A. Partin, 49, at Manalapan’s P-1 mine in Harlan County, Ky. Partin was killed when a piece of rock nearly 7 feet long and 3 feet thick fell from the wall of the underground mine and knocked him into equipment. MSHA investigators accused the company of three flagrant violations, saying it failed to properly support the wall or to identify and correct “numerous hazardous conditions.” The company and three of its supervisors have been indicted on criminal charges. Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Leader, The (Louisville, Ky.) Courier-Journal
Workplace regulators seek $122,400 in fines against Alabama contractor. The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration accused Huntsville, Ala.,-based Don Kennedy and Sons House Moving Co. of four trenching violations, including two willful violations, the agency’s most serious charge. Inspectors said the company failed to provide safe access to an excavation site or to provide cave-in protection for employees working in a 15-foot-deep trench. OSHA said it investigated after receiving a complaint from a whistleblower who said he was fired because he refused to get into an unprotected trench. OSHA, WHNT News 19
Senator questions federal probe of Toyota vehicles. Charles E. Grassley, R-Iowa, said whistleblowers recently have provided his office with information suggesting that the investigation of sudden unintended acceleration by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, with NASA engineers, “may have been too narrow.” He said the probe might have erroneously ruled out the company’s electronic throttle control system as a cause. In a letter to NHTSA, Grassley asked for detailed information about the investigation. Toyota’s problems, which triggered recalls of millions of vehicles, have been blamed on floor mat and gas pedal flaws. Los Angeles Times
Insurer says it won’t cover damage from fracking. Nationwide Mutual Insurance has become the first major insurance company to say it won’t cover damage related to the controversial drilling process that blasts chemical-laden water deep into the ground to release trapped gas or oil. The Columbus, Ohio-based company said its personal and commercial policies “were not designed to cover” risks from fracking. Health and environmental groups have claimed fracking can contaminate drinking water, while the energy industry says it’s safe if done properly. Nationwide said risks involved in fracking operations “are too great to ignore.” The Associated Press
Recalls: Chicco Polly high chairs, Zero electric motorcycles, Jean Perrin Edel de Cleron cheese
Compiled by Stuart Silverstein and Bridget Huber
