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Seeking nominations for 2024 Habersham Central Lifetime Achievement Award

By
Joy Purcell
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USAF Lt. Col. Preston McConnell is presented with the Habersham Central Lifetime Achievement Award in May 2023. The award recognizes high school alumni who have made significant contributions in their communities and professions. (Jerry Neace/NowHabersham.com)

The Habersham County School System is accepting nominations for the 2024 Habersham Central Lifetime Achievement Award.

Nominees must have received a diploma from Habersham Central High School between 1970 and 1999.

The award will recognize an individual who has had a significant impact professionally at the local, state, and/or national levels while positively impacting others.

The recipient will be honored during the Class of 2024 graduation ceremony. A photo and professional biography of the recipient will be displayed at Habersham Central.

Nomination forms are available online at https://tinyurl.com/2u276ru2 or by contacting Dr. Martha Cantrell at 706-754-2110, ext 128. You may also request a nomination form by emailing [email protected].

The deadline for nominations is February 15.

Previous Habersham Central Lifetime Achievement Award recipients are:

Wreaths Across America: remember, honor, and teach

By
Nora Almazan
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People across the nation are preparing for a somber, seasonal tribute on Saturday as they lay wreaths on the graves of veterans from coast to coast. There will be 2.9 million wreaths placed in 4,225 locations across the United States on December 16.

Habersham County joined in the tradition last year with wreath-laying ceremonies at the VFW Cemetery in Demorest and the Historic Clarkesville Cemetery. This year local organizers have added a third site – Demorest Cemetery.

Those are but a few of the local locations where you can go this weekend to participate in this seasonal tradition. It is a time to remember the fallen, to honor those who serve, and to teach the next generation the value of freedom.

How it began

Wreaths Across America began with a 12-year-old paper boy named Morrill Worcester, who won a trip to Washington D.C. He visited Arlington National Cemetery while there, and the hundreds of thousands of graves made an imprint on his heart – one that would follow him throughout his life.

As an adult, he became the owner of Worcester Wreath Company in Harrington, Maine. In 1992 there was a surplus of wreaths, and he remembered his experience as a boy in Washington D.C. He took the opportunity to honor those who gave the ultimate sacrifice for our nation.

The photo that started it all. This iconic image of wreaths placed on graves at Arlington National Cemetery started a movement that now includes wreath-laying ceremonies at over 3,400 locations nationwide. (photo courtesy Wreaths Across America)

He sought the help of Maine Senator Olympia Snowe, who made arrangements for the surplus wreaths to be placed at Arlington in one of the older cemetery sections that had been receiving fewer visitors each passing year. It didn’t stop there. Others stepped in to help. The owner of a local trucking company named Blue Bird Ranch, Inc., offered transportation to Virginia. The local American Legion and the VFW Posts donated their time to decorate the wreaths with traditional red, hand-tied bows.

And the rest, as they say, is history.

How it has grown

Each year the tradition continued and in 2005, a picture surfaced on the internet of Arlington in the snow with the wreaths adorning each soldier’s grave.  Some 30 years after its inception, Wreaths Across America has a mission to remind people of the sacrifices made for our freedom; to honor those who made the sacrifice; and to teach what it means to be an American. Saturday, December 16, over two million volunteers and supporters will gather to remember, honor, and teach at more than 4,200 participating locations in all 50 states.

North Georgia Ceremonies

In our area, The Old Clarkesville Cemetery, Demorest Cemetery, and the VFW Cemetery will hold the Wreath Placement at noon on Saturday, December 16. In Toccoa, GA, the ceremony will be at The Toccoa City Cemetery, and in Hartwell, GA,  at the Hart County Cemetery. The James Pittman Chapter, NSDAR, Commerce, GA will be helping Woodbine Cemetery to Remember and Honor our veterans by laying Remembrance wreaths on the graves of our country’s fallen heroes.

Demorest city officials present a $1,400 check to members of the Grant-Reeves VFW post for wreaths to be placed on veterans’ headstones in Demorest Cemetery on December 16. (L-R) Mark Musselwhite, Michael Dale, Barry Church, Linda Church, Jerry Harness. (Submitted: Mark Musselwhite, City of Demorest).

VFW member and Wreath Coordinator Barry Church explained that he wanted to use Demorest as a pilot project this year to see if there was interest among the cities that owned cemeteries to become involved with the Wreaths Across America event. Demorest was chosen because of its central location in the county.

Church has goals for the program. “My goal ultimately is to have as many wreaths on as many veterans’ graves as we possibly can. Maybe between now and next year, talk to some of the other cities to see if they want to participate.”

Bring the entire family

Church recommends people arrive as early as 11:00 a.m. at the various locations. There is coaching involved in the process of placing the wreath. As each wreath is placed on the grave, the name of the veteran is called out.

Ginger Swilley and her brother, Scott Simmons, right, present a ceremonial wreath in honor of Air Force veterans and service members during the Wreaths Across America ceremony at VFW Memorial Park in Demorest on Dec. 17, 2022. (Jerry Neace/Now Habersham)

“The freedoms we enjoy are not by accident but by sacrifice. We need to educate our young people so that they do not take it for granted,” Church expressed.

Details

All across America, wreaths will be placed to honor our veterans on Saturday, December 16, at 12:00 p.m. Find a location near you and bring the entire family. “It isn’t about decorating a grave,” Church added. “It is about remembering those who sacrificed for our freedom; honoring those who paid the ultimate price; and teaching the history of our great nation.”

Public insurance claim database goes live in Georgia early next year

By
Sofi Gratas
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Early next year, the public will have access to a new tool that makes the cost of health care more transparent — it’s a statewide database of insurance claims.

Georgia will join about half of all states that already have an all-payer claims database or an APCD. The database and visualizations to come were developed with support from the Georgia Tech Research Institute.

By making this data publicly available, the state legislature hopes to encourage “data-driven, evidence-based improvements in access, quality, and cost of health care,” according to language in the law that put the APCD in motion.

All-payer claims databases use de-identified insurance claims data to make average costs public for things like ambulances, labor and delivery, dentistry, and medicine for chronic diseases.

It will be the largest single source of aggregate health care data in the state, said Jon Duke with Georgia Tech’s Center for Health Analytics and Informatics. Once public, the data can be categorized by age, rural or urban residency, insurance type and service provided.

“The goal would be: Let me look at my county, let me look in my area,” said Duke. “Compared to other areas, let me try to get a better understanding of the health in that environment from what is available in claims.”

Unlike public health data, the APCD will be updated every few months, rather than annually.

“We want this to be a tool and a resource to finally shed light and understanding to the average Georgia citizen about what health care is, and how they can access it,” said Meghan Denhan, senior research associate at the Georgia Tech Research Institute.

To start, Georgia’s APCD will include insurance claim data from millions of residents to represent about 50% of the population, according to the researchers at Georgia Tech. About 75% of residents will be represented in the data by 2025. Data collected through the Georgia APCD will be available through a public dashboard online and public use files.

Only insurance providers that cover more than 1,000 beneficiaries are required to submit data to the APCD. It’s a voluntary process for some smaller companies and employer-sponsored coverage providers.

Also left out of the data, of course, are people without insurance. That makes it hard to really understand healthcare disparities. People without insurance are more likely to forgo preventative care, which can result in higher rates of chronic diseases and mental health issues.

“So far, that’s one of the challenges that has evaded most of the states,” said Denham about tracking health outcomes for the uninsured.

About 250,000 people in Georgia live in a coverage gap, because they have an income higher than what’s accepted for Medicaid coverage but not enough to qualify for subsidies for ACA insurance plans. Thousands more are also uninsured but may be eligible for coverage under the ACA.

This article appears on Now Habersham in partnership with GPB News

Beware of bonding scam, sheriff warns

By
Joy Purcell
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Habersham County Sheriff Joey Terrell reminds everyone to beware of people who would defraud them of their hard-earned money.

The Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office has recently received multiple reports from citizens involving a bonding scam. Relatives of individuals incarcerated in the Forsyth County Jail are being contacted by supposed bonding companies offering to facilitate bonding out their loved ones.

The victims are usually directed to send payment, usually via Zelle, Venmo, or PayPal. The payments are normally in line with the percentages charged by legitimate, approved bonding companies. Once payment is sent, the victims arrive at the jail and are notified of the theft.

“If anyone asks you for money in advance, that should tell you to beware – especially when one of the mentioned payment methods is involved,” Terrell says.

If you receive such a call, hang up the phone and call the sheriff’s office directly.

Anyone who has been contacted by a purported bonding company asking for payment by one of the above methods should contact their local sheriff’s office.

Qualifying for Alto Town Council seat opens Dec. 18

By
Staff Report
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Candidates may qualify at the Habersham County Elections Office in the county administration building in Clarkesville. (NowHabersham.com)

Qualifying opens next week for the March 12, 2024, Alto Special Election. The election is being held to fill the unexpired term of Post 1 Councilmember Carolyn Cabe.

Cabe passed away in September. Her term expires on December 31, 2025.

Qualifying for the council seat runs from Monday, December 18, through Friday, December 22.

Alto residents interested in running may qualify at the Habersham County Elections Office in the county administration building in Clarkesville.

The qualifying fee is $35.

The hours for qualifying are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday (except for a one-hour lunch break daily) and from 8:30 a.m. to noon Friday.

The last day to register to vote in the Special Election is February 12, 2024.

Advocates hopeful after Georgia, Alabama settle water war outside court

By
Jill Nolin
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Georgia and Alabama have agreed to four objectives that include minimum water flow levels at sites in Columbus, Georgia and Columbia, Alabama. (Henry Jacobs/Chattahoochee Riverkeeper)

(Georgia Recorder) — An agreement between the states of Georgia and Alabama in a yearslong water dispute is being celebrated for where it came about: outside of a courtroom.

Governors of the two neighboring Southern states announced in a joint press release this week that they had reached an agreement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which operates a series of reservoirs in the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin.

The massive basin starts in north Georgia and crosses over into Alabama as it moves through southwest Georgia and into the Florida Panhandle. It’s been at the center of the so-called long-simmering water wars, including a Georgia-Florida case that reached the U.S. Supreme Court in which Georgia emerged the victor in 2021.

The proposed compromise must still go through a federal approval process that will include an environmental review and a public comment period. But the state of Alabama has agreed to pause the appeal of a lower court’s decision in a case tied to a 2017 federal water control document and a water supply storage contract at Lake Lanier.

Alabama’s case was pending with the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, where it will remain in limbo until the federal agency decides whether to adopt the proposed changes.

Both Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey touted the agreement as a “win-win” in statements Tuesday and the end of this chapter of the water disputes.

“Alabama and Georgia have a lot in common,” Ivey said in a statement. “But we have spent a lot of time — and a lot of money on attorney fees — fighting in court over water.”

The two states have agreed to four objectives that include minimum water flow levels at sites in Columbus, Georgia and Columbia, Alabama. Both sides say the deal will ensure metro Atlanta’s water needs are met while allowing enough water to flow on to Alabama.

Kerry Armstrong, chairman of the Atlanta Regional Commission, hailed the proposal as a “landmark agreement heralds a new era of cooperation” in the basin.

Alex Bradford, director of the Georgia Farm Bureau’s public policy department, called it “another significant step forward” for the state’s agricultural industry that builds on the Supreme Court ruling and a proposal to ease a decade-old moratorium on new and expanded withdrawals in portions of southwest Georgia’s Flint River Basin.

“While agriculture depends on long-term certainty like this agreement will provide to plan for the future, this resolution is also critical for agriculture’s consumers and Georgia’s growing population throughout the entire basin,” said Alex Bradford, director of the Georgia Farm Bureau’s public policy department.

And while other long-time observers of these multi-state water disputes say they were encouraged by news of the out-of-court agreement, the proposal’s impact on the waterways and the broader river system still needs to be studied.

“We’re thinking about this in a much larger sense,” said Chris Manganiello, water policy director with the Chattahoochee Riverkeeper. “We’re not just going to care about what these metrics mean for Columbus and Alabama, but what does it mean upstream and downstream?”

Manganiello said the minimum flow targets outlined in the agreement are not new. He said he has heard the numbers floated over the years, but he argues it’s important to consider these proposed water flow levels in the context of climate change.

Still, Manganiello said the agreement left him feeling cautiously optimistic.

“We’ve always thought that a resolution outside of the courtroom was preferable to mandates from above that maybe we wouldn’t have liked either,” he said.

Gil Rogers, director of the Southern Environmental Law Center’s Georgia office, said it remains to be seen what this new collaborative spirit between Alabama and Georgia may mean for the decades-long tri-state water disputes. The Alabama-Coosa-Tallapoosa River Basin, which spills over into part of Georgia, is another disputed river system, and other cases are also still pending.

“It’s just not clear whether this means these two states are going to be getting along regarding all of their shared water resources or just regarding this particular reach of the Chattahoochee River,” Rogers said Tuesday.

“Still a lot of questions surrounding this, but any kind of cooperation between states that have historically been in litigation is a positive step forward.”

Lions take on North Florida in Division I Exhibition

By
Joseph Garwood
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(Photo by Logan Creekmur)

The Piedmont women’s basketball team took on the University of North Florida in a Division I exhibition contest on Wednesday afternoon in Jacksonville.

The Lions held tough in the first quarter, trailing by only eight after the first 10 minutes.

While the Ospreys were able to build a 53-37 lead at the break, the Lions fought back with a strong 22-point third quarter.

North Florida pulled away again late in the contest, but Piedmont saw a balanced scoring attack with 11 different players finding points.

Two Lions reached double figures, led by 11 points from Colby Reed and 10 points from Ashley Scott. Reed connected on a team-high three three-pointers.

Scott and Lu Woolfolk paced the team with three assists each, while newcomers Andelin Hill (8 points) and Alexandria Willis (7 points, 6 rebounds) added contributions from the starting lineup.

Up next, the Lions will return to action in just over two weeks, hosting Hardin-Simmons on Friday, December 29 at Cave Arena.

Nora’s Notes: peaceful waters

By
Nora Almazan
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Wendy was my black Tennessee Walker – a feisty mare, built for speed. Riding her felt like being on water skies in the early morning when no other boats were out. She was smooth as glass.  A group of us rode on Saturdays, a few times a month, galloping down long stretches of dirt road. When we came to forks in the road or intersections, we would simply place the reins on the nape of the horse and go in whichever direction the horse chose. For me, it was life on the “edge.” I never knew where Wendy would take me and since horses are pack animals, they will usually follow the lead horse who 99% of the time was mine.

One Saturday though – Wendy didn’t want to choose. There was a T-shaped intersection up ahead. Instead of going left or right, she decided to go straight up a hill covered in pine trees and briers. The sting of the branches on my face felt razor-sharp, and I wondered if my cheeks would be covered in blood. It seemed as though she ran uncontrollably; and although I tried to slow her down, she wouldn’t. The other horses had not followed – this time. I could hear a distant shout from my friend Rhonda, “Nora, are you ok?”

The woods opened to a clearing with a creek running through the center, and there she stopped. I hadn’t been to this spot before, which seemed impossible since I felt I knew every inch of Dublin, Georgia. I sat down on a rock and washed the cuts on my hands and face. The sound of the water flowing passed me, calmed my beating heart.

“He leads me beside still waters; He restores my soul…” the passage from Psalm 23 entered my head. Our pastor, Jim Rush, had just encouraged us to memorize the Psalm in our confirmation class. Suddenly, it made sense. Sometimes we go down paths of our own making; sometimes paths others have forced us on; and sometimes, one’s God brought us down purposefully. We may not know the reasons for the trials or how long we will have to endure the journey; but one thing is certain, He will bring us back to still waters.

Faith holds in good times and bad. It is the assurance that when we walk with God, no matter the decision we’ve made, He will see us through the obstacles, the pain, the suffering, the grief, the destruction, and bring us back to peaceful waters.

Demorest boil water advisory lifted

By
Staff Report
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Demorest has lifted the boil water advisory it issued earlier this week for city water customers in the area of Old Athens Highway to Pea Ridge Road.

The advisory was issued as a precaution after a water main break near Old Cleveland Road on Monday evening, December 11.

People in the affected area may now resume normal water use.

Charles Boyd Smith

By
Now Habersham
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Mr. Charles Boyd Smith, 84, of Toccoa, Georgia, went home to be with the Lord on Monday, December 11, 2023, surrounded by his immediate family.

Born on August 6, 1939, in Mt. Airy, Georgia, he was the youngest child of the late Harold James and Martha Bertha Schmidt Smith. He had five sisters who watched out for him throughout his childhood. Boyd worked for 49 years at Habersham Metal Products. He married Floye Kimsey on November 9, 1962, and they built their family for the next 61 years. He was a faithful member of Toccoa Creek Baptist Church, where he spent time as a deacon and Sunday School Superintendent. Boyd loved wood working, working outdoors, gardening, and enjoyed following Georgia football and Braves baseball. He loved his wife and son’s family dearly and was beloved by everyone he came in contact with.

In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his sisters, Eugenie Burrell, Catherine Cantrell, Lenora Smith, and Louise Holcomb.

Survivors include his loving wife of over 61 years, Floye Kimsey Smith; son and daughter-in-law, Chad Harold Smith and Doreen Smith; granddaughter, Olivia Elizabeth Smith; sister, Helen Smith; brother-in-law, Rev. Billy Burrell; nieces, Jill Judy, Denise Cantrell, Neysa Burrell; nephews, Kevin Holcomb, Kim Cantrell, Brent Holcomb.

Funeral services will be Friday, December 15, 2023, at 1 p.m. in the Hillcrest Chapel of the Acree-Davis Funeral Home with The Reverend Billy Burrell and The Reverend Joey Whitlock officiating. The following gentlemen will serve as pallbearers, Joseph Judy, John David Judy, Joseph Handwork, Danny Handwork, Alan Youngblood, and Kevin Holcomb.

The family will receive friends at the Acree-Davis Funeral Home on Friday from noon until the service time at 1 p.m.

Online condolences may be left for the family at www.acree-davisfh.com.

Interment will follow in the Toccoa City Cemetery, with the Acree-Davis Funeral Home and Crematory in charge of the arrangements for Mr. Charles Boyd Smith.

US House Republicans back formal impeachment inquiry against Biden

By
Jacob Fischler
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U.S. President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden talks to reporters outside the U.S. Capitol on December 13, 2023 in Washington, DC. Hunter Biden defied a subpoena from Congress to testify behind closed doors ahead of a House vote on an impeachment inquiry against his father. (livestream image)

WASHINGTON, D.C. (States Newsroom) — The U.S. House voted along party lines Wednesday to officially proceed with an impeachment inquiry against President Joe Biden.

The Republican-controlled chamber approved a resolution, 221-212, with Illinois Democrat Brad Schneider not voting, to allow three committees to continue their investigation into whether Biden benefited from his son Hunter’s foreign business dealings.

If such a link could be demonstrated, it would raise questions about foreign policy choices Biden made as vice president from 2009 to 2017.

Work on the investigation thus far has not demonstrated a link involving the president.

The vote was meant to show the investigation has the support of most House members.

Three committee leaders — Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer of Kentucky, Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan of Ohio and Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith of Missouri — had previously conducted their inquiry solely at the direction of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

Subpoena power

House Republicans have subpoenaed Hunter Biden, asking him to sit for a deposition by Wednesday,  but the president’s son declined, offering instead to appear at a public hearing.

Wednesday’s vote to formalize the investigation, which also formally bestowed the chairmen with subpoena power, would provide the inquiry more legitimacy and make it more difficult for Hunter Biden to reject future subpoenas, Jordan and Comer said hours before the vote.

“We think the House of Representatives will go on record with a power that solely resides in the House to say we are in an official impeachment inquiry phase of our oversight,” Jordan said.

“And when that happens, we’ll see what their excuse is then,” he added, referring to Hunter Biden and his legal team. “They should have been here today. But once we take that vote, we expect him to come in for his interview, for his deposition.”

The Republicans said a deposition behind closed doors during the fact-gathering phase of the investigation should occur prior to a public hearing.

“We expect to depose the president’s son, and then we will be more than happy to have a public hearing with him,” Comer said.

Hunter Biden earned millions during his father’s tenure as vice president for sitting on the board of Ukrainian energy company Burisma and in deals with Chinese oil tycoon Ye Jianming.

Hunter Biden speaks to press

Hunter Biden appeared outside the Capitol on Wednesday and made a brief statement to reporters. He did not take questions.

“There is no evidence to suggest that my father was financially involved in my business,” he said. “Because it did not happen.”

He named the GOP committee chairmen — Comer, Jordan, and Smith — and said they had “lied over and over about every aspect of my personal and professional life” and distorted the president’s paternal support as a kind of criminal act.

“They have taken the light of my dad’s love for me and presented it as darkness,” he said.

Joe Biden has repeatedly demonstrated support for his son amid his recovery from addiction to alcohol and crack cocaine.

Hunter Biden on Wednesday referred to past mistakes he’d made and his struggles with addiction but denied that his father based any policy decisions on his own business dealings.

At Wednesday’s White House press briefing, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said President Biden was “familiar with” what his son would say but declined to offer more details. She referred most questions about the matter to representatives for Hunter Biden, noting that he is not associated with the White House as “a private citizen.”

But she criticized House Republicans for proceeding in the inquiry without evidence and for focusing on impeachment rather than negotiations on the border, averting a government shutdown in January and other policy priorities.

“Instead they focus on baseless political stunts,” Jean-Pierre said.

‘Zero evidence of wrongdoing’

Several House Democrats also blasted the inquiry in floor speeches Wednesday, calling it “a political hit job” and “a witch hunt” meant to smear President Biden.

“A year of investigation, piles of documents, and a herd of the Republicans’ own witnesses confirmed there is zero evidence of wrongdoing,” Florida Democrat Debbie Wasserman Schultz said. “Instead, the Republicans’ wasteful witch hunt just confirms that President Biden is a good and honorable man. What this resolution really does is cover up a full year of do-nothing Republican policies.”

Since taking the House majority this year, Republicans in the chamber have investigated Hunter Biden’s business dealings, including with companies in Ukraine and China, and have claimed that Joe Biden and other family members benefited.

But they haven’t shown any direct link from Hunter Biden’s businesses to the president. Witnesses that GOP leaders asked to testify at the House Oversight and Accountability Committee’s first hearing in September acknowledged there was no evidence tying Joe Biden to Hunter Biden’s business activities.

McCarthy directed the three House committees to open the investigation in September as he faced pressure from the Republican conference amid a push to keep the government funded. The move didn’t mollify the far-right members of his party, who voted with every Democratic member to oust McCarthy the following month.

Investigation report into fatal liquid nitrogen leak released

By
Staff Report
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Nearly three years after a liquid nitrogen leak killed six workers at a poultry processing plant in Gainesville, a federal safety board has released its findings into the incident.

This week, the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) released its final investigation report into the deadly leak at the Foundation Food Group (FFG) facility on January 28, 2021.

The 115-page report identifies a number of equipment and process failures at the facility. It also includes a dozen recommendations to various groups to prevent such tragedies in the future.

READ CSB Investigation report

Bent tube led to deadly leak

FFG used liquid nitrogen to quickly freeze prepared poultry food products. Investigators determined that a bent “bubbler tube” inside the immersion freezer at the plant caused the leak.

Investigators determined the bubbler tube was likely bent during maintenance, rendering it unable to measure and control the freezer’s liquid nitrogen level. As a result, liquid nitrogen overflowed from the freezer and quickly vaporized into a four- to five-foot-high cloud, causing the employees to die of asphyxiation.

Immersion freezer bubbler tube, as found during the post-incident examination of the freezer. As
designed, the tube should be pointing straight downward. (Credit: CSB)
Water overflowing from the immersion freezer tub during the post-incident overflow test. This image shows how the bent tube rose above the overflow point. (Credit: CSB)

Three other FFG employees and a firefighter who responded to the incident were seriously injured from asphyxiation.

Investigators also determined that “inadequate emergency preparedness” made the situation at FFG more severe. According to a summary report of CSB’s findings, FFG did not “inform, train, equip, drill, or otherwise prepare its workforce for a release of liquid nitrogen.”

Investigators also concluded that FFG failed to install air monitoring and alarm devices that could have alerted the workers about the hazardous vapor cloud and warned them against entering the freezer room.

A ‘needless and senseless tragedy’

After the leak, at least 14 employees entered the freezer room and surrounding area to investigate and try to rescue their coworkers.

“Workers were not aware of the deadly consequences of a liquid nitrogen release – ultimately, trying to save their colleagues led to them sacrificing their own lives,” said Investigator-in-Charge Drew Sahli. “This is a known hazard, and better training and communication could have prevented such a tragedy.”

In addition to the lack of training and monitoring devices, CSB found that FFG had no documented process safety management policy. The company allowed the job position responsible for safety management to be vacant for more than a year before the incident.

Messer LLC designed and owned the freezer and leased it to FFG. Investigators noted that, despite Messer being aware of FFG’s “unsafe practices,” the company continued supplying FFG with liquid nitrogen.

“This needless and senseless tragedy was completely preventable. Six people died and four others were seriously injured because of a bent tube and FFG’s failure to have critical monitoring equipment and warning alarms and FFG’s failure to adequately train and equip its employees to respond safely to a liquid nitrogen release,” said CSB Chairperson Steve Owens.

Line 4 immersion-spiral freezer in Line 4 freezer room several hours after the incident. (Credit: Hall
County Fire Services, annotations by CSB)

Safety recommendations

After the incident, FFG sold the facility to Gold Creek Foods. According to CSB, Gold Creek does not have liquid nitrogen freezing processes in the building where the incident occurred.

As a result of its investigation, CSB issued twelve safety recommendations directed at Gold Creek, Messer, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), an industry trade association, and two standard-setting organizations.

The CSB is calling on Gold Creek Foods to “proactively engage” with local emergency responders to ensure that they are aware of the chemicals being stored onsite at the facility and their potential hazards.

CSB also wants OSHA to issue a national standard to address the hazards of cryogenic asphyxiants – which include liquid nitrogen.

Other recommendations include:

  • OSHA to cover liquid nitrogen in the agency’s regional emphasis programs for poultry processing and food manufacturing.
  • The Compressed Gas Association and National Fire Protection Association to improve their safety guidance on cryogenic asphyxiants.
  • International Fire Code updated to require the use of atmospheric monitoring with cryogenic asphyxiants.

“The CSB’s recommendations are important for preventing incidents involving liquid nitrogen and lessening their severity if they do occur,” said Owens. “The hazards of liquid nitrogen must be clearly communicated to workers, and the safety management systems for operations that use liquid nitrogen must be improved.”

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