Abstract: On September 29, 2000, employees were performing maintenance operations by welding a metal plate to the side of hopper number three to cover a crack on the hopper wall. Employee #1, a maintenance employee, entered the hopper to set up to weld the metal plate. A loader operator, who was not aware of the work in progress, inadvertently poured soil into the hopper. The loader operator had received instructions, by the process operator, to start filling the hoppers with the soil components, in order to start a batch of "hard wood fines compost." Employee #1 died after being inadvertently buried under about 6 yards of soil.