ONTONAGON - A second Ontonagon contractor who was involved in a July 17 industrial accident at a plant in Wisconsin has died from his injuries.
According to officials from the Ramsey County Medical Examiner's office, 29-year-old Dustin Dean Hale, died at Regions Hospital in St. Paul, Minn., at 3:47 p.m. Saturday. Hale had been a patient there since July 18, officials said.
According to the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office, the incident occurred just before 8:30 a.m. at Packaging Corporation of America near Tomahawk, Wis., where 47-year-old Dennis Gougeon and Hale, both of Ontonagon, were reported to be burned from fly ash, a product produced by the combustion of coal. Gougeon died from his injuries at 5 p.m. July 17.
PCA manufactures container board and corrugated packaging.
Gougeon and Hale, were contractors for Ontonagon-based Inland Systems Inc.
In a July 17 Gazette article, Rhonda Burke, a spokesperson from Occupational Safety and Health Administration, said the agency was sending an investigator to the Tomahawk plant.
Burke said OSHA has up to six months to complete the investigation.
The July 17 incident wasn't the first of its kind at PCA in Tomahawk. In 2008, three workers were killed at that facility, Burke said.
The incident remains under investigation.