Patriot Paving Group LLC was cited for OSHA violations and fined $161,325 after the company owner ignored repeated warnings and destabilized a retaining wall with an excavator, causing a 40-to-60-foot section to collapse and crush one worker in a trench at a Brownville, Maine worksite in June 2024.

Patriot Paving Group LLC — Fatal Retaining Wall Collapse, Trench (2024)

Outcome: One worker crushed to death and another narrowly escaped after the company owner operated excavator equipment near the base of an unstable retaining wall against repeated warnings and the company's own safety plan; OSHA fined the company $161,325.

In June 2024, two workers employed by Patriot Paving Group LLC were in a three-to-four-foot-deep trench at a Brownville, Maine worksite, installing storm drainage pipes. Company owner Clifford Lane was operating an excavator near the base of a retaining wall. Multiple warnings about the wall's instability were given and ignored. Lane's operation destabilized the wall's foundation, causing a 40-to-60-foot section to collapse into the trench. One worker was fatally crushed by the collapsing wall; the second worker managed to escape.

OSHA determined that Lane ignored "repeated warnings" about the hazard and acted contrary to the company's own safety plan, which created "clear and imminent dangers." The agency cited the company for failure to brace the retaining wall against struck-by and caught-between hazards, failure to remove employees from hazardous trench conditions, and inadequate training for three workers on trench activity hazards. OSHA proposed a penalty of $161,325.

Primary Source: US Department of Labor finds fatal trench collapse in Brownville involved contractor ignoring safety plan