Sen. Rubio calls for recycling facility closure after deaths
ARVIN, Calif. (KBAK/KBFX) — State and federal agencies have launched probes into the deaths of two young brothers at a recycling facility in the Arvin/Lamont area.
Now, a state lawmaker and former Kern County supervisor is calling for the facility to be shut down.
Sen. Michael Rubio, D-Shafter, asked the Kern County Board of Supervisors on Wednesday to immediately halt operations at the Community Recycling and Resource Co. pending the outcome of multiple investigations.
The brothers, 16-year-old Armando Ramirez and 22-year-old Eladio Ramirez, were cleaning an underground drainage tunnel last week at the facility when they reportedly became overwhelmed by toxic hydrogen sulfide fumes. The teenager was the first to die.
A third worker was overcome by the fumes, but he had stayed on the ground at the facility on North Wheeler Ridge Road. He was treated and released at a hospital.
"Our preliminary readings off our field instruments are saying hydrogen sulfide and carbon monoxide," Environmental Health spokesman Brian Pitts told Eyewitness News shortly after the incident. He said one of the brothers went into the drain pipe, and then the other brother apparently tried to help him.
"This is unfortunately almost a classic scenario where somebody may not recognize the dangers of going down into a place," Pitts said. "A well-intentioned rescuer coming to their aid, not recognizing the dangers, and also going down."
The state's Division of Occupational Safety and Health issued an order to halt operations related to the activities that caused the deaths.
Rubio's office said he's making the request to the board of supervisors because the county has jurisdiction over the facility.
"After many years of repeated violations by (Community Recycling and Resource Recovery), it is certainly time for the county to step in and halt all operations at this facility, particularly following this fatal accident that took the lives of two workers, while these investigations and full environmental documents are completed," Rubio said in a news relase. "Clearly, numerous warnings and fines over the years have accomplished little to get CRRR to act responsibly. Now, with the two deaths last week, the board should have more than enough evidence to revoke the company's operating permits until the investigations are done."
