Companies fined $1.75m in worker death at Bay Area refinery

BENICIA, Calif. (AP) — California workplace safety regulators have fined a San Francisco Bay Area refinery and three contractor companies more than $1.75 million for safety violations in the death of a worker who suffocated while trying to clean a well. The regulators said Thursday that a total of $1.75 million in fines were issued to Valero Energy Corp.’s refinery in Benicia and contractors JT. Thorpe & Son, Inc., T.R.S.C. Inc., and Total Safety. Messages seeking comment from the companies weren’t immediately returned.