Judge order C6-Zero to pay $96K fine for worker safety violations

A judge this week ordered C6-Zero to pay a $95,700 fine for workplace safety violations that contributed to a Dec. 8 explosion in Marengo.

The company agreed in May to pay the fine as part of an informal settlement with Iowa Occupational Health and Safety, which found 15 serious safety violations, including inadequate training and protective equipment and incomplete emergency plans. The settlement reduced C6-Zero’s fine by $35,000 from the original amount.

But C6-Zero did not pay the lower fine by a mid-June deadline and hasn’t paid since, Iowa OSHA confirmed Friday.

Iowa Labor Commissioner Rod Roberts filed a petition July 12 in Black Hawk County to try to force C6-Zero to pay the fine. District Court Judge Joel Dalrymple on Tuesday ordered a judgment against the company for the $95,711 plus interest and filing fees for the state.

The judgment adds to the money C6-Zero owes Iowa.

The state in July sued the company for $1.53 million to reimburse the state for money paid to clean up contaminated water at the Marengo site and to replace firefighter gear damaged in the blaze.

The C6-Zero, which opened in 2020 in Marengo and had about 30 employees, was attempting to dissolve used roofing shingles into oil, sand and fiberglass when a spark ignited flammable vapor Dec. 8 and caused an explosion that injured nine employees, at least two seriously.

Kelly Regenold, of Tama, suffered severe burns on one-third of his body in the blast, according to a lawsuit Regenold and his wife filed in Iowa County. Cody Blasberg was severely burned and was put temporarily on a ventilator because of his injuries, his family wrote on a GoFundMe page.

The company did not have a permit for this work, state regulators said.

The blast caused an evacuation of nearby houses and polluted soil and water because of chemicals stored at the site. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is overseeing cleanup, which involves hauling contaminated water to a facility in Kansas.

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