Wyo. OSHA Never Inspected Sugar Plant Before Death

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — The Wyoming Department of Workforce Services has no record of ever inspecting Western Sugar Cooperative's beet-processing plant in Lovell before a woman died there in an industrial accident this year.

The department only inspected the facility after the Jan. 4 death of 28-year-old Anfesa Galaktionoff. The agency last month announced 12 citations and proposed $71,000 in fines against Western Sugar.

In response to an Associated Press request for inspection reports of the facility for the last five years, Mick Finn, an agency lawyer, says the state has no records of such visits conducted before Galaktionoff's death.

Officials say the department chooses which facilities to inspect based on a formula that includes worker compensation claims.

A Western Sugar spokesman says the company is addressing the issues raised about the Lovell plant.