DISTRICT ATTORNEY - NEW YORK COUNTY

News Release
March 24, 2004

Contact: Barbara Thompson
212.335.9400

Manhattan District Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau announced today the guilty plea of Kaltech Industries Group, Inc, a Chelsea architectural sign manufacturing company in connection with an April, 2002 explosion in its West 19th Street offices.

The blast caused extensive damage to Kaltech's building and a building directly across the street. In total, 31 people were taken to hospitals, 16 were admitted for treatment and four received critical injuries requiring intensive care. Non-Kaltech employees working in the building were injured on the second, fourth and tenth floors, as were visitors to the building and pedestrians on West 19th Street. Six firefighters were also injured as they engaged in rescue efforts.

The investigation revealed that on the morning of April 25, 2002, a hazardous waste disposal company removed thirteen 55-gallon drums of hazardous waste from Kaltech without incident. Subsequently, Kaltech workers used an electric pump to transfer the contents of some dozen smaller containers holding chemicals into a larger 55-gallon drum for later disposal. Because the workers mixed incompatible chemicals, the drum exploded.

The company was charged with failing to properly train its employees in the safe use of hazardous chemicals. There was insufficient evidence to prove that the company's owners or employees were aware that the combination of the chemicals during disposal was likely to produce the explosion which actually occurred. Although Kaltech workers used hazardous chemicals daily, the company failed to provide basic training in chemical safety procedures to those workers. Kaltech's hazardous waste disposal company had offered to train Kaltech's employees on three separate occasions in 2000 and 2001 but Kaltech refused the offer each time.

As a result of today's plea to Reckless Endangerment, Kaltech will be required to provide and pay for a comprehensive twenty-four hour course of chemical safety training resulting in an OSHA certification for all employees of sign manufacturers in the New York City area using chemical processes in their work who attend. All Kaltech employees - and those of other sign and chemical companies owned by Kaltech's principals - will be required to attend the training courses.

The training will be held in Manhattan and will be led by an independent, OSHA-certified company or individual. At least 26 companies in New York City, Long Island and New Jersey will be invited to attend the training sessions. The training sessions, which will be advertised, are free and open to any employees of metropolitan area sign companies who use chemical processes in their work. The training session will cover a variety of subjects important to employees who handle hazardous chemicals, including record keeping, use of personal protective equipment, how to handle, transfer and transport chemicals and the proper response to spills.

Kaltech operated an architectural sign manufacturing business at 111-123 West 19th Street in Manhattan in a 10-story masonry building containing a variety of commercial tenants. Kaltech's administrative offices were located on the first floor of the building, while its production facilities were in the basement directly below. Kaltech was located in Chelsea from 1992 until the explosion. Kaltech has a number of other facilities and subsidiaries located throughout New York City.

Assistant District Attorney Louis O'Neill, who is assigned to the District Attorney's Special Prosecutions Bureau, was in charge of the prosecution under the supervision of Bureau Chief Leroy Frazer.

Mr. Morgenthau thanked the following individuals and agencies for their assistance in this investigation: Fire Department of New York and Chief Fire Marshal Louis F. Garcia, retired Supervising Fire Marshal James E. Kelty, and Fire Marshal Frank Quiles; OSHA - Regional Administrator for OSHA Patricia Clark and the Manhattan Area Director Richard Mendelson and Compliance Safety & Health Officer Mitchel Konka; New York City Department of Environmental Protection - Director of Emergency Response and Technical Assessment Moustafa Fawzi and Director of HazMat Unit Enzo Catanzaro; New York State Department of Environmental Conservation - Captain Jill Kaufmann, Division of Law Enforcement, Lt. John Mattera, Captain Terry Rivella, Investigators Neil Ross and Lidio Rivera, Engineer II Samsudeen Arakhan, and Engineer Hassan Hussein; New York City Department of Investigation - Special Counsel to the DOI Commissioner Clive Morrick.

###