“Doing it right to earn your trust” was the slogan which could be found for many years on the sign out front of the St. Lawrence Cement Catskill plant, before it was officially subsumed into its Swiss owners' global empire (a mere formality, as the company was already effectively steered by them).
The Catskill Daily Mail reports today that the multinational cement giant Holcim has paid “nearly all” of the $423,000 in fines its been assessed on over 300 citations they’ve received since 2008 here in the mid-Hudson Valley. The company, which has billions in revenues worldwide, apparently is still fighting three fines valued at $2,800, according to reporter Doron Tyler Antrim's Saturday article.
Holcim, of course, is the parent of the company which tried unsuccessfully for over six years to build a massive, coal-fired plant in Columbia County; which recently announced the closing of its smaller Catskill facility; but which continues to attempt to mold the City of Hudson Local Waterfront Revitalization Plan (LWRP) to suit its own narrow corporate ends.
Antrim's article, largely based on Mine Safety and Health Administration records, includes several illuminating details of the fines paid by Holcim:
• The $2,800 in still-contested fines "include failure to provide seat belts in haulage trucks," showcasing the company's lack of commitment to safety. Under the terms of the draft LWRP and an application to the Town of Greenport, over 200 truck trips daily across Route 9, Route 9G, the Federally-protected wetlands of South Bay, and railroad tracks would be encouraged.
• Two years ago, some Catskill plant workers “were taken off the job after the company failed to provide them with the required eight hours of annual refresher training,” again undercutting company claims of support for workers and their safety. Holcim was fined $18,000 for that... oversight.
• “Six contractors that have worked at the plant since 2008 have been cited for 19 safety violations with fines totaling $3,550.”
• A Boilermakers rep told the paper that a successful of cutbacks in workforce over the past two years “had left the plant without people to clean up spills and other hazards,” and that spotty training “had become prevalent as the existing workforce was forced to take on more duties.”
Here’s hoping no one gets hurt between now and the expected “mothballing” of the plant on June 13th.