Ex-Texas Chemical Firm Exec Gets Prison for Worker Death

A federal judge has sentenced the former president of a Port Arthur, Texas, chemical company to one year in prison for occupational safety crimes that led to an employee’s death.

Matthew Lawrence Bowman is the former president and owner of Port Arthur Chemical and Environmental Services. The 41-year-old Houston man pleaded guilty in Beaumont on May 9 to violating the Occupational Safety Health Act and making a false statement.

The Justice Department says Bowman admitted to not properly protecting employees from exposure to hydrogen sulfide, a poisonous gas. Truck driver Joey Sutter died in December 2008 after exposure.

Bowman also admitted that he told employees to falsify transportation documents to hide that wastewater was coming from his company, which was in operation from 2008 to 2010.