Construction company owner ignored warnings before fatal Brownville wall collapse

By Marie Weidmayer, Bangor Daily News Staff

The owner of a construction company ignored repeated warnings before a wall collapsed in Brownville and killed his brother, a federal workplace safety investigation found.

There were five “willful” violations by Clifford Lane, owner of Patriot Paving Group, known as Freedom Paving Group in Glenburn, during the first day of construction at Railroad Avenue in Brownville on June 25, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration found.

An unbraced retaining wall collapsed and killed 67-year-old Stephen Lane. Clifford Lane was the brother of Stephen Lane, who died “doing what he loves working with his family,” his obituary said.

A federal investigation found Clifford Lane made the decision to ignore the “repeated warnings” from an onsite expert and the paving company’s site safety plan before the fatal collapse, OSHA said. 

OSHA proposed fines of $161,325 for the five willful violations. The company can contest OSHA’s findings within 15 business days or request an informal conference with the local OSHA director.

Freedom Paving Group did not answer the phone Thursday morning, Dec. 26 when a Bangor Daily News reporter called, and it did not have a voicemail set up.

The crew was replacing the sidewalk and retaining wall under the railroad bridge on June 25.

Two workers were installing drainage pipes in a trench roughly 4-feet deep, while Clifford Lane operated an excavator near the base of the retaining wall, OSHA said. The excavator destabilized the wall and caused a 40-to-60-foot section of the wall to tip over.

One worker escaped but the other died.

Lane knew the trench was unstable but did not evacuate employees or use protective systems, OSHA said. His decision created “clear and imminent dangers.” 

“The warnings were clear, yet Clifford Lane chose to ignore them, putting progress before safety and putting employees directly in harm’s way,” said Samuel Kondrup, OSHA Area Director in Augusta. “There is no excuse for so callously endangering workers’ lives.” 

The serious, willful violations include not bracing the retaining wall and exposing employees to hazards; failing to remove employees from the trench after it was determined to be hazardous; and not training or instructing three employees in the hazards associated with trench activities.