Owners Seek to Stop Work after Numerous Safety Incidents

In this article, you will learn:

How safety on the Longview Rail Corridor is allegedly lacking.
How an equipment accident caused the site to shut down.
Why the project owners are calling for a safety review.

By: Nick Morgan
Source: The Daily News, Longview, Wash. (TNS)

Citing what he saw as significant inadequacies in Rotschy’s health and safety plan, Port of Longview commissioner Jeff Wilson on Monday called for a stop-work order to be extended on the port’s rail expansion project.

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Port staff issued a stop-work order on the construction project at 3:58 p.m. Thursday, June 5, according to an email from Dale Lewis, the port’s director of public affairs. The order is currently set to sunset by the end of the day Friday, June 13, but Wilson, who is also a Washington state senator, called for the stop-work order to hold until the Vancouver-based contractor meets added safety criteria.

“I don’t want this job to go any further until safety is covered,” Wilson said.

The commissioner flagged numerous pages in his copy of the 109-page safety document required as part of Rotschy’s winning $44 million construction bid during a special meeting Monday afternoon. Wilson’s concerns ran the gamut, pressing Director of Facilities and Engineering William Burton about a wide range of flaws in the plan. They included telling workers to find the AED on the job site in a nonexistent “maintenance room,” and details lacking in the confined spaces rescue plan that included no named primary or secondary rescue agencies.

“Who’s the actual rescuer?” Wilson asked.

Port commissioners went into executive session at the conclusion of the meeting to discuss options, but said no decisions would be made. Commissioners scheduled a work session to discuss the health and safety plan Wednesday evening, and will hold its next regular meeting at 9 a.m. Wednesday, June 18.

‘A very public-sized tragedy’

The special meeting Monday followed a new wave of scrutiny on Rotschy after news broke last week that a laborer was airlifted from a job site in Woodland to a nearby trauma center after the boom of an excavator fell on him in a trench. The Washington State Department of Labor & Industries confirmed last week that they are investigating the Vancouver-based Rotschy as the employer involved.

Rail expansion paused

A pile of gravel and an excavator stand idle near railroad tracks along International Way on Wednesday, June 11 near the Port of Longview. Port labor instituted a stop-work order issued last week that could be extended as port commissioners work to revise the rail expansion contractor’s health and safety plan and address lingering safety concerns.

“I look at this, and there was just a very public-sized tragedy just last week,” Wilson said. “And I think this confined-space-rescue-thing is not worth accepting.”

Rotschy’s safety record includes multiple prior L&I citations and pending investigations that notably included a six-figure fine for a June 2023 on-the-job injury where a 16-year-old worker lost his legs while operating a trencher. The state agency recommended earlier this spring that the Clark County Prosecutor’s Office press felony child labor law violations related to the juvenile worker’s injury; however, no charges have yet been filed.

Burton, the director of facilities and engineering, discussed the stop-work order with commissioners during a safety update at Monday’s special meeting. Construction began last month after the state issued a Notice to Proceed on May 12, port staff told commissioners at a regular meeting last month. Burton outlined details of the port’s safety efforts on the project, such as describing the RFQ process for hiring an independent third-party agency to monitor safety. Wilson brought up the stop-work order during a follow-up. The order is scheduled to sunset Monday, June 16, Burton said, but Wilson said he wanted to extend it.

Wilson had been one of the two commissioners who voted to approve Rotschy’s contract in January, but his sharp criticisms of the safety plan largely dominated the special meeting Monday. “Special meeting indeed,” Wilson said.

“We’ve got the largest project in the port’s history, and we’ve got problems,” Wilson said.

Wilson acknowledged that the incident is still under investigation, and expressed a belief that Rotschy owes the port an open discussion in light of the circumstances.

“Preventable injuries are just that,” Wilson said. “They are preventable.”

Commissioner Evan Jones, who was the sole opposing vote against the contract in January, voiced some agreement with Wilson but said little ahead of the executive session. Jones in prior meetings has raised doubts about the contractor’s safety record, and has said he doesn’t want workers to get hurt.

“I do want to clarify for the record my issue is not at all with our health and safety plan,” Jones said. “My issue is with Rotschy.”

Why the move to shut down the project

The Port of Longview’s main office on the morning of Wednesday, June 11. Port commissioners may extend a stop-work order on its multimillion-dollar Industrial Rail Corridor Expansion project while they address issues in contractor Rotschy’s health and safety plan for the construction project. Port labor instituted the stop-work order last week after a worker on a Rotschy job site near Woodland was airlifted after the boom of an excavator fell on a worker in a trench.

Port CEO Dan Stahl acknowledged Wilson’s desire to fast-track concerns with the safety plan, but he asked for guidance how to work prepare within such a tight schedule. Staff were scheduled for all-day meetings Tuesday and Wilson asked for a work session Wednesday afternoon.

“I don’t care if we’re really ready or not—we should be able to have a discussion on safety at the drop of a hat,” Wilson said.

The Longview Rail Expansion Project

The Industrial Rail Corridor Expansion Project is designed to more than double the port’s rail freight capacity, and on the port’s website it is described as the port’s “largest investment in more than a century.” TDN archives show that the project was years in the making and utilizes millions of dollars in state and federal funding.

Burton explained ahead of the vote in January that the expansion will increase the port’s rail capacity from two to four lanes over the next four years, plus more opportunities to expand down the line. The contractor will build an embankment that can accommodate as many as eight lines down the line, and will prepare some related infrastructure for future phases of expansion.

At a meeting last month port engineering staff told commissioners the contract was “typical of a Washington public works project,” with much of the contracting language pulled from Washington State Department of Transportation. In public comments, labor leaders have warned commissioners that the port could be liable if a worker gets hurt during the construction project, but special counsel told commissioners at the May 22 meeting that the contract is industry standard.

Commissioner Allan Erickson said at the meeting that improving the port’s responsible bidder criteria is a priority because more public works projects are in the pipeline. The port is in the process of redeveloping Berth 4, the site of the former Continental Grain Terminal that operated until 1989 and completed demolition early last year.

“I think as we go forward at the Port of Longview, without disclosing details, has the potential to have huge construction projects as we go forward here with redevelopment of Berth 4 and other activity that we have on the property,” Erickson said.