Body recovered after fatal industrial accident
HUDSON — The body of an employee who died in an industrial accident at a flour mill in Hudson has been recovered, authorities said Wednesday.
“With our Columbia-Greene Technical Rescue Team, who are assisted by the New York State Forest Rangers, and with the assistance and cooperation from ADM Milling and staff, the victim was recovered,” Bartlett said in a statement.
The victim was from Ghent. The sheriff’s office has not released the victim’s name.
Columbia County Coroner Daniel Herrick is also assisting with the investigation. An autopsy is scheduled at Ellis Hospital on Thursday.
“At this time in the investigation, foul play is not suspected and appears to be a tragic accident,” Bartlett said.
The fatal accident took place Tuesday morning at around 10 a.m. at ADM Milling Co. on Route 23B in Greenport. Rescue workers were unable to recover the body Tuesday but no further details have been released.
The body was recovered early Wednesday afternoon, according to police scanner reports. The Columbia County Sheriff’s Office, Greenport Rescue and plant workers were all on the scene throughout the day. The property was cordoned off by deputies.
The Sheriff’s Office was dispatched at around 10:20 a.m. Tuesday to respond to a “reported cardiac arrest in an elevator chute,” according to Columbia County Sheriff David Bartlett.
A short time after law enforcement arrived on the scene, the accident was ruled industrial in nature and led to the death of an employee at the mill, Bartlett said in a statement.
Jackie Anderson, a spokeswoman for ADM Milling Co., a global agricultural processor headquartered in Chicago, confirmed Tuesday that an employee had been killed.
“This morning, an ADM colleague was involved in a fatal accident while working at ADM’s flour mill in Hudson, New York,” Anderson said. “We are working with local authorities to investigate the situation surrounding the incident at this time.”
Ted Fitzgerald, a spokesman for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration at the U.S. Department of Labor, confirmed Wednesday that a mill employee was killed and said the circumstances surrounding the accident are under investigation.
“OSHA was aware of the problem on Tuesday and we had compliance officers that responded,” Fitzgerald said. “OSHA will be gathering information to determine what happened.”
OSHA, a federal agency that oversees workplace safety, responded to the scene Tuesday and Wednesday, and opened an official inspection, Fitzgerald said.
“The purpose of an OSHA inspection is to determine whether or not there have been any violations of OSHA safety and health standards,” Fitzgerald said.
The agency has up to six months to complete an inspection following an incident.
“At this time, it’s too early to estimate a completion date for this inspection,” Fitzgerald said Wednesday.
The accident remains under investigation by the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office, Bartlett said in a statement.
