TURNER – The former DeCoster Egg Farms has once again been fined for unsafe working conditions.

The U.S. Department of Labor announced Thursday that it has levied $108,500 in fines against four of the companies that now make up the Turner farm.

The companies were cited for having unsafe electrical equipment, an inadequately labeled jack, poorly maintained manure trucks and other hazardous conditions.

Questioning the legitimacy of some of the citations, a lawyer for the farm said this most recent round of fines does not convey what has really happened on the farm.

“Things have changed so dramatically for the better there,” said Timothy O’Brien. “This is misleading.”

Inspectors from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration have been closely watching the egg farm since 1996, when federal regulators found conditions that then-Labor Secretary Robert Reich called “as dangerous and oppressive as any sweatshop we have seen.”

The farm’s owner, Austin “Jack” DeCoster, was ordered to pay millions in fines.

DeCoster split his operation into eight smaller corporations in 1997. Since then, the companies have been fined twice for various health and safety violations.

In December 2001, four of the corporations were fined $125,000 for everything from structurally unsound roof rafters to allowing workers to wear unsanitary respirators and torn gloves while handling chicken carcasses.

The next round of fines came in June 2002. That time, four companies were fined about $345,000 for hazardous electrical equipment, uninspected fire extinguishers, exposed asbestos and other unsafe conditions.

New fines

The latest inspection was conducted over nine days. In the end, half of the corporations that make up the farm were found in violation.

• Maine Contract Farming, which operates the feeder mill and egg-laying complex, was fined $75,700 for ungrounded, uncovered and unlabeled electrical equipment, for failing to maintain manure trucks and for failing to enforce the use of seat belts by the manure truck operators.

• PFS Loading Services, which transports the chickens, was fined $22,000 for failing to provide a guardrail for workers loading and lowering chicken cages from the roof of a 12-foot-high truck.

• Maine Ag, which packs and grades the eggs, was fined $6,800 for having ungrounded electrical enclosures, worn electrical outlets and unprotected electrical conductors.

• Turner Maintenance and Services, which performs maintenance on the farm, was fined $4,000 for failing to mark a portable jack with its lifting capacity and for having an inadequately supported kerosene tank.

Each company was given 15 days to request a meeting with OSHA to discuss the citations. O’Brien said he is prepared to fight some of the charges.

Accusing OSHA inspectors of “unsportsmanlike conduct,” the Portland lawyer questioned the fairness of the fines. He pointed out that $35,000 was for unsanitary manure trucks.

“They are manure trucks,” he said. “They are not supposed to be clean.”

O’Brien also argued that the farm has tens of thousands of electrical fixtures. The inspectors found fault in 20 of them, and that warranted $35,000 in fines.

“That seems a bit high,” he said.

According to O’Brien, the people who run the farm have developed a good relationship with federal inspectors over the years.

“As much as there is a good working relationship, you have to sit back and question, where is the spirit of cooperation that is supposed to exist?” he said.