Hubbard Feeds Inc., 1503 Yegen Road, faces potentially $144,000 in fines after being cited for unsafe working conditions, representatives with Occupational Safety and Health Administration said.

Three employees were injured in December after a grain storage bin bridge collapsed on them, according to reports.

Two were treated and released, and one was hospitalized for a collapsed lung and fractures to the upper body, said Bruce Beelman with the Bismarck OSHA office.

"The main thing is there were serious injuries involved,"Beelman said.

Grain bridges can form by moldy or frozen grain hardening into a thick crust, or bridge, that may conceal a hazardous cavity, according to OSHA. Attempting to dislodge the grain may result in employees being injured or partially or fully submerged.

Hubbard Feeds, based in Mankato, Minn., distributes animal feed, and has production facilities throughout the Midwest. Management at the Bismarck facility could not comment on the incident or the reports.

According to reports, the employees entered a grain bin to break apart bridged grain using hand tools. Within half an hour, the bridge collapsed, burying one employee and injuring the other two.

The citations issued against Hubbard related to violations of OSHA's grain bin entry standards.

A potential $126,000 was issued for failure to prevent employees from entering the structure where there were hazardous conditions present and failure to assign a standby observer and to provide rescue equipment.

An additional $18,000 was proposed for failure to train employees for bin entry and rescue as well as other bin training.

The company received the citations on May 25, and has 15 days to either respond to request an informal conference with OSHA, or to contest the citations.

Beelman said the Hubbard has contacted OSHA with questions about contest procedures and about the informal conference; a conference date has not been set.

Beelman said the company may have the appropriate bin-entry practices in place at this time, however further discussion would be required to determine if OSHA would issue good-faith credits against the fines.

(Reach reporter Crystal R. Reid at 250-8261 or at crystal.reid@;bismarck-tribune.com.)