Worker died from head, neck injuries
Sunday, January 4, 2004 10:10 AM PST
By Andre Stepankowsky
Printable version
E-mail this articleLongview Fibre Co. worker Mark Alfred Greenland died of head and neck injuries suffered in a paper machine accident at the Longview mill Friday, the Cowlitz County Coroner's office said Saturday.
For reasons that are still under investigation, Greenland, 38, got caught in the No. 11 paper machine when it started up, according to the Cowlitz County Sheriff's office.
The accident occurred at 9:30 a.m., just a little over two hours after Greenland started a 12-hour shift, said Debbie Marshall, president of Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers Local 153, which represents Fibre union workers.
Greenland was on the first day of a four-day stint that involved working two 7 a.m.-to-7 p.m. shifts followed by two 7 p.m.-to-7 a.m. shifts, she said
Neither she nor company officials had further information Saturday on what caused the accident, which company spokesman Curt Copenhagen said was the first fatality at the plant in nearly 10 years.
"It is quite a shock that this happened. We lost someone we had worked with for so long," Marshall said. "It's terrible for everyone."
Greenland had worked at the plant for nine years, almost all of them at the machine where he died. Marshall expressed confidence that the state Department of Labor & Industries' investigation into the accident will reveal what went wrong.
Officials with L&I's Washington Safety and Health Act program said Friday the investigation could take two to six months. WISHA representatives were at the mill site Friday, and Marshall said she heard they may return this week. Copenhagen could not confirm that Saturday.
Greenland was born in Salt Lake City. He grew up in Ridgecrest, Calif., and was a Navy veteran. He moved to Longview 12 years ago from Ridgecrest.
His family remembers his love of the hunting and fishing and his "perfectionist" approach to anything he undertook.
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