Worker dies after exposure to gas at Woodland Pulp mill

A student intern working at the Woodland Pulp mill has died and another worker was critically injured following exposure to a toxic gas at the mill's bleach plant on Tuesday, January 27, when the mill was in the process of shutting operations down because of a large spike in natural gas prices. Over a dozen mill employees were exposed to the hydrogen sulfide gas that is a byproduct formed during the kraft mill process. The cause of the incident is still being investigated.

According to Baileyville Fire Chief Brandon Ireland, a call from the mill was received at 6:20 p.m., and the Baileyville and Calais fire departments, along with Downeast EMS, responded. He notes in a posting that the incident posed no threat to the public, and the fire departments declared the kraft mill buildings safe for reentry.

Scott Beal, spokesman for the mill, says the two critically injured employees were taken to the Calais Community Hospital and then were flown by LifeFlight helicopter to Northern Light EMMC in Bangor, where the student intern passed away. Kasie Malcolm was a junior majoring in chemical engineering at the University of Maine in Orono who was working at the mill. Beal is not sure how long the two workers were unconscious before they were found.

Following Malcolm's death, UMaine President Joan Ferrini-Mundy and Dean of Students Andrea Gifford released a statement, saying, "The loss of a student is heartbreaking, and our thoughts are with Kasie's family, friends, classmates, faculty and all who knew and cared for him." St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Dover, N.H., from which Malcolm graduated in 2023, posted that he was a gifted student and accomplished swimmer, along with being a snowboarder and hiker, with a commitment to excellence, perseverance and passion for education. The school remembers him as a kind, respectful and genuine young man.

A GoFundMe site set up by Abigail Kosko notes that his family "is heartbroken, and they may not be able to afford a funeral for him, as he was raised by his grandmother Paula Malcolm, who is unable to work." Funds are being raised to cover the funeral expenses.

The other worker who was critically injured was an engineer at the mill and is still in the hospital. Beal says that a third employee became unconscious after exposure to the gas and was treated on site by Downeast EMS ambulance personnel. That worker was taken to Calais Community Hospital as a precaution and was released.

In addition to the three employees who were taken to the hospital, at least 10 other workers also were exposed to the gas. According to Mike Higgins, staff representative for the United Steelworkers (USW), eight members of the Local 27 union and two electricians were not hospitalized because they had "very mild cases."

Higgins says all of the workers were exposed to hydrogen sulfide, which is not used at the mill but is a byproduct formed in the kraft mill process when wood chips are treated with white liquor at high temperatures. It is formed when sulfuric acid is mixed with other caustic and organic matter. According to the Maine Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, hydrogen sulfide can cause headaches and nausea and is lethal at acute concentrations.

Higgins says that shutdowns in the winter are challenging "due to the threat of freezing important infrastructure. Our USW bleach plant operators along with other USW members assigned to the bleach plant were performing normal tasks to drain tanks and other key components within the pulp-making process when they began experiencing immediate eye and throat irritation." He says all of the workers tasked with draining the tanks and lines got out of the building and were evaluated on scene, except for the electrician who went to the Calais hospital and was later released.

"It's a very tragic accident," Higgins says. "United Steelworkers members are having a hard time with this -- finding the two workers unconscious was very terrible to see."

Mill shutdown continues

Beal says the pulp and tissue mills were being shut down because of the rapidly increasing cost of natural gas that is used as a fuel in the kiln, power boiler and recovery furnace. Natural gas prices have been increasing because of the cold weather and low inventory levels in the U.S.

While the tissue mill did not operate for several days and then restarted, the pulp mill was still not operating as of February 10. Beal says talks are being held on when to restart the mill, and he expects it will be this month. No layoffs have occurred because of the down time.

Investigation ongoing

As for the gas exposure incident, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) was notified, and both OSHA and mill staff are investigating how it happened. Beal notes that OSHA has 180 days before a report needs to be completed. According to Higgins, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection's response team, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, along with the United Steelworkers' emergency response team and health and safety department, are also trying to determine what happened.

"We're still investigating the cause and working with OSHA," Higgins says. He adds, "Most of our members involved have given their statements several times, each time bringing back the horror of what happened that day."

Higgins comments, "The United Steelworkers have a very good relationship with mill management, and there's not one person among the workers and management who is not trying to find out the problem and fix it. We want to fix it so no one gets hurt in the future."