NEWPORT — An eastern Washington aerospace company has been fined $500,000 by the state Department of Labor and Industries, one of the largest penalties ever assessed by the agency.
The agency announced the settlement Thursday in its case against Zodiac Cabin & Structures Support LLC of Newport.
Seventeen workers were injured in an explosion at Zodiac’s plant in 2015. An L&I investigation in January 2016 found 17 willful violations, one for each worker who was injured. The company was originally fined $1.3 million.
Zodiac appealed and the two parties reached the settlement.
Zodiac Cabin was required to fix problems and will be subject to follow-up inspections.
The Newport plant has reopened. It makes plastics and composite materials used in the airplane cabin interiors.
