Authorities suspect a lack of oxygen led to the death of a worker at the Archer Daniels Midland ethanol plant in Cedar Rapids.
Two men were going to do maintenance on a tank in the plant where corn is fermented. A statement from the Cedar Rapids Fire Department indicates the tank area may have been an “oxygen-deficient environment.”
Plant employees found the two men unconscious early this morning and pulled them to another area of the plant. Emergency crews arrived at about 7:30 a.m. and transported both men area hospitals. The 50-year old A.D.M. employee died. The other victim, a 46-year old man, is listed in stable condition at a Cedar Rapids hospital.