Susquehanna Supply Company, Inc. of Williamsport, Pennsylvania, is facing federal criminal charges for willfully violating OSHA regulations in a case that ended with a worker buried alive by a collapsing trench wall. The company was charged in a criminal information filed in the Middle District of Pennsylvania, marking a rare federal prosecution over a fatal workplace safety breach.
The victim, an employee of the company, died on July 7, 2015, after entering a 12-foot-deep trench at a bridge rehabilitation site near Eyers Grove in Columbia County. With no protective system in place—despite clear OSHA mandates requiring sloped walls or other cave-in protections—the trench’s vertical dirt wall gave way without warning. The man was crushed against the bridge’s concrete abutment, pinned to the chest, and killed instantly by massive upper-body trauma.
Susquehanna Supply Company had contracted with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation in December 2014 to rehabilitate the bridge, a project that began in June 2015. Federal prosecutors allege the company was fully aware of OSHA regulations but chose to ignore them, creating conditions that made the fatality all but inevitable. Trench cave-ins are among the deadliest hazards in construction, and OSHA has long required protective measures to prevent precisely this kind of disaster.
According to U.S. Attorney David J. Freed, the criminal information underscores the deadly consequences of cutting corners on worker safety. “This was not an accident,” Freed stated. “This was a preventable tragedy brought on by willful disregard for federal safety laws.” The case was investigated by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and is now being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Carlo D. Marchioli.
If convicted, Susquehanna Supply Company faces a maximum penalty of a $500,000 fine and a term of probation. Under federal sentencing guidelines, the court will weigh the seriousness of the offense, the company’s history, and the need for deterrence and public protection. No individual has been criminally charged at this time, but the case sets a precedent for holding corporations accountable when safety violations lead to death.
Criminal informations are not convictions. Susquehanna Supply Company is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Still, the charges expose a grim reality in industrial contracting: lives lost not to unforeseen accidents, but to calculated decisions to bypass safety rules. The case remains pending.
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Key Facts
- State: Pennsylvania
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: White Collar Crime
- Source: Official Source ↗
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