Wallowa-Whitman failed to remove trees that posed a hazard during the August 2009 clean up of a marijuana grow in which forest employee Steven Uptegrove was hit and killed by a falling tree

A federal agency has cited the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest for

committing several safety violations during the August 2009 clean up of

a marijuana grow in which a Wallowa-Whitman employee was killed by a

falling tree.

Steven A. Uptegrove, 52, of Unity, was killed on Aug. 20.

He and another Forest Service worker were loading trash into “sling

loads” that were hauled by a Chinook helicopter away from the site near

the Monument Rock Wilderness, about nine miles southwest of Unity.

Investigators believe “rotor wash” – the wind generated by the

helicopter’s two rotors – toppled the dead tree that hit Uptegrove,

said Randy White, area director at the U.S. Department of Labor’s

Occupational Safety and Health Administration office in Portland.

The tree broke near its base, White said.

Tom Knappenberger, a spokesman at the Forest Service’s regional

office in Portland, said agency officials had no comment about the OSHA

citations.

OSHA investigators wrote in their citation report that “the employer

(the Wallowa-Whitman) did not identify and remove danger trees prior to

employees working in the immediate area.”

On Aug. 19, the day before Uptegrove was killed, workers pushed over some dead trees by hand, White said.

“The primary problem was that they had some (other) trees out there that needed to be taken down before the operation was started,” he said. “There were other dangerous trees in the area that they couldn’t push over (by hand).”

White said OSHA investigators did not find any evidence that workers used a chain saw or other method to fall hazard trees before the helicopter arrived.

OSHA also cited the Wallowa-Whitman for allowing Uptegrove to wear a hard hat that didn’t comply with current safety standards.

However, White said he does not believe the condition of that hard hat contributed to Uptegrove’s death.

“Whether it would have saved his life (had he been wearing a different hard hat) I really don’t think so,” White said.

He did not know how tall or thick the tree was that hit Uptegrove.

OSHA started investigating the incident on Aug. 21.

The agency cited the Wallowa-Whitman on Jan. 29.

Federal law prohibited OSHA officials from publicly discussing the investigation or the citations until they had written confirmation that the Wallowa-Whitman had received the citations, which were sent by certified mail, said Jeannine Lupton, a spokeswoman for the Department of Labor.

OSHA received that confirmation on Thursday.

White said OSHA will require the Wallowa-Whitman to correct the violations by Feb. 25.

OSHA does not issue fines or other financial penalties on federal agencies, he said.

OSHA also cited the Wallowa-Whitman for:

andbull; Failing to require an employee to wear “complete eye protection, such as goggles, while exposed to flying debris caused by the rotor wash of the CH-47 Helicopter.”

andbull; Failing to conduct a briefing before each day’s operation.

“On August 20, 2009, the plan of operation was not understood by both the CH-47 helicopter pilot and the U.S. Forest Service employees. Prior to hooking up the cargo nets, the plan called for a dry run which was never conducted. This situation created extremely hazardous conditions for all involved, such as, but not limited to, danger trees falling.”

Uptegrove had worked for the Forest Service for more than 30 years, and for the Wallowa-Whitman since 2006. He was a station lead and fire engine foreman at the forest’s compound in Unity.

He helped to clean up the marijuana grow in part because, as a veteran firefighter, he had experience attaching sling loads to helicopters.

Police had discovered the pot plantation, which consisted of about 2,100 plants, during a surveillance flight in a National Guard helicopter a few weeks before Uptegrove was killed.

During that flight they found a second operation, with 12,000 plants, about 6? miles east of the other plantation.

“We feel these two grows are tied into a Mexican-run drug operation out of the Nampa/Caldwell area,” Oregon State Police Lt. Ray Duman said in August.

Police didn’t find any suspects at either plantation.

“It’s very typical that once you fly over with a helicopter the people at the grows abandon them because they know what’s coming,” Duman said.