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The Tennessee Conservative [By Olivia Lupia] –
A Tennessee District Attorney has announced that the criminal investigation into Impact Plastics has been closed, and the owner of the manufacturing company will not face any charges for employee drownings due to flooding from Hurricane Helene last year.
First Judicial District Attorney General Steven Finney announced the case’s closure on Friday and stated that no further action will be taken after the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) reported it had found no criminal offenses.
When Hurricane Helene swept through Unicoi County in September of 2024, Impact Plastics was caught in the mayhem when five employees and one independent contractor died attempting to escape the floodwaters.
The TBI and Tennessee OSHA (TOSHA) opened an investigation amongst allegations that the company did not allow adequate time to vacate the area, causing the employees to be swept away in the rising floodwaters blocking the exit road.
In April, TOSHA released their report determining Impact Plastics had allowed employees to leave with enough time to seek safety and that there was no proof provided that employees where threatened with firing or forced to stay at work.
TOSHA did not announce any charges of misconduct, noting that other employees leaving at around the same time were able to escape via various other avenues, including walking over an embankment to a nearby highway or driving or over makeshift paths onto railroad tracks created by a neighboring business with a tractor.
The organization instead recommended Impact Plastics develop a severe weather plan and train employees on how to respond to various emergencies.
The TBI investigation concurred with the results of the TOSHA report, finding employees had a little over an hour during which they could have evacuated from the flooding industrial park.
Impact Plastics attorney Stephen Ross Johnson on Friday told several news agencies the company welcomed the results of the TBI investigation. “The true and accurate facts are now known,” he said in a statement.
Though both agencies have officially closed their cases, the Impact Plastics and its CEO still face a wrongful death suit filed by a family of one of the deceased workers, and other civil suits are reportedly in the works.
The attorney representing the families of several of the victims, Luke Widener, stated they “categorically disagree Impact Plastics employees were given any meaningful opportunity to escape.”
He further claims that if the company’s account of events were true all those “who perished would still be with us.”
About the Author: Olivia Lupia is a political refugee from Colorado who now calls Tennessee home. A proud follower of Christ, she views all political happenings through a Biblical lens and aims to utilize her knowledge and experience to educate and equip others. Olivia is an outspoken conservative who has run for local office, managed campaigns, and been highly involved with state & local GOPs, state legislatures, and other grassroots organizations and movements. Olivia can be reached at olivia@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
2 Responses
Interesting. I know that the flooding was totally unexpected but, it would have thought that with their location next to a waterway, they would have had an emergency plan in place for flooding. I know most companies do have comprehensive evacuation and contingency plans involving all kinds of scenarios.
Well, we will have to see what happens in the civil cases then. My prayers are with everyone involved that they can reach some sort of agreement, and all parties involved can find peace, move forward and thrive once again.
Good.