Maine Pulp Mill Faces $794,000 in Proposed OSHA Fines After Hydrogen Sulfide Gas Killed Two Workers

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration proposed $794,456 in fines against Woodland Pulp LLC on July 30, citing the Baileyville, Maine mill for 12 violations — four classified as willful — following a January hydrogen sulfide gas release that killed two workers.

The Deaths

Kasie Malcolm, 20, a University of Maine chemical engineering student working a co-op internship at the facility, was exposed to the gas during a cold weather shutdown on January 27, 2026 and died the following day, January 28.

Allen Hornberger, 26, a process engineer who had been employed at the mill for less than five months, was also exposed on January 27. He died on February 17 after weeks in the hospital.

OSHA determined that workers performing the cold weather shutdown encountered high concentrations of uncontrolled hydrogen sulfide gas. Hydrogen sulfide is an acutely toxic gas that can incapacitate and kill at concentrations that can be reached quickly in industrial settings.

What OSHA Cited

Federal inspectors classified four violations as willful — a designation OSHA uses for cases in which an employer knew a rule applied and failed to act, or was aware of a hazardous condition and took no corrective steps. Those willful citations involved failing to provide proper breathing equipment and gas-detection alarms for hydrogen sulfide exposure, and allowing excess wood pulp to accumulate in storage areas.

Eight additional citations were classified as serious, covering failures to conduct required respirator fit evaluations and fit tests, missing hazard labels on chemical lines, and inadequate worker training on chemical hazards.

The proposed penalty total is $794,456. Woodland Pulp can contest the citations before the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

A Second Incident

OSHA also investigated a March 7 chemical fire at the same mill, when hydrogen peroxide mixed with accumulated wood pulp on the ground and ignited. The failure to control wood pulp accumulation was among the conditions cited in the willful violations.

Prior OSHA History

The Baileyville mill has undergone 13 OSHA inspections since 2017 and received 14 prior citations, according to agency records. A 2017 incident at the same facility sent 14 employees to the hospital following a chemical exposure in the same area of the plant.

Separate Federal Investigation

The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board opened an independent investigation into the January 27 incident. The CSB is a federal agency that investigates chemical incidents and issues safety recommendations; its findings are separate from OSHA enforcement.

The deaths are part of 411 Press's ongoing industrial accident coverage; they follow other recent chemical-exposure fatalities, including a worker killed by hydrogen sulfide at a Catalyst Refiners plant in Nitro, West Virginia. The willful citations follow the pattern of a recent trench-collapse case in Yarmouth, Massachusetts, where OSHA issued willful and repeat violations after a worker died.

This is a developing story. More details will be published as information becomes available.