Western Sugar seeks meeting following death, fines

LOVELL, Wyo. (AP) — Western Sugar is seeking an informal meeting with state regulators to review $71,000 in fines it faces for safety violations in connection with a death at the cooperative’s Lovell facility, its director of shareholder relations said Thursday.

Kent Wimmer said the cooperative owned by 1,200 sugar beet growers in Wyoming, Montana, Colorado and Nebraska has requested an informal meeting to review the fines, but would not say whether it was seeking a reduction. The fines were imposed after an employee died in January after falling through a floor opening in the facility’s beet wheel processing pit.