New Mexico refinery to pay highest state penalty ever following worker deaths
“Inexcusable” accident
The New Mexico Environment Department says it’s reached a settlement with Navajo Refining of Artesia for citations issued by the Department’s Occupational Health and Safety Bureau, or New Mexico OSHA. The citations resulted from an investigation of a March 2010 accident, which killed two employees and seriously injured two others at the Artesia refinery.
As part of the agreement, the company will pay a $400,000 fine, the highest penalty ever collected by the state OSHA program. The company does not admit fault.