OSHA Chief: Fine for Deadly Leak Petty Cash For DuPont

More than six months after a toxic gas leak killed four workers at DuPont’s chemical plant in La Porte, a top U.S. labor official blasted the company’s commitment to workplace safety, saying he wished he could hand out a harsher punishment.

“We saw serious hazards, which killed four people,” David Michaels, who heads the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), said in an interview with The Texas Tribune. “It’s painful for us, and we know it’s painful for the families of these workers to see that the fine is only $99,000” — a number he called “petty cash” for the multibillion-dollar company … MORE