Helene made landfall on September 26, 2024 and moved northeastward, causing catastrophic damage throughout the North Carolina mountains and parts of East Tennessee. The subsequent flooding was reckoned to be the worst in the area’s history, marooning hundreds of thousands of people for weeks without basic utilities and wiping away entire communities that had stood for generations
On Sept. 27, as much as 31 inches of rain fell in the North Carolina mountains north of Asheville. The vast quantities of water roared downhill into the Tennessee Valley, causing the French Broad, Pigeon and Nolichucky rivers to overflow their banks. The trio of swollen rivers poured an estimated 182 billion gallons into Douglas Lake, which rose more than 21 feet, according to TVA officials.
Impact Plastics — described by Finney as “a locally owned, small business which specialized in injection molded plastics” — is located in the small town of Erwin near the Nolichucky River. As the disaster developed on Sept. 27, a hurried evacuation of the company’s plant turned tragic when six employees were ultimately washed away by floodwaters.
“In the immediate aftermath of this event, allegations began circulating through social media and other local news media outlets which alleged that Impact Plastics CEO Gerald O'Connor and/or other supervisory staff refused to allow the employees to leave the facility, thus resulting in the deaths,” said Kinney in a press release issued July 18.
In response to the reports, Kinney asked the TBI to step in and agents swiftly executed a search warrant on the property.
“Over the next several months as the investigation continued, approximately 26 witness interviews were conducted, including employees who were working on September 27th at Impact Plastics,” Kinney said. “Within these interviews, no evidence was established to substantiate the claim that the employees were told they were prohibited from leaving or threatened with termination for leaving as the floodwater rose. Attempts to interview other Impact Plastics employees were unsuccessful due to lack of cooperation or response.”
Kinney said the TBI’s findings established that O’Connor dismissed his employees at approximately 10:51 a.m., when there were “available paths of evacuation” still open to workers.
“There was a window of time between approximately 10:51am and approximately 12:06pm for the employees of Impact Plastics to leave, thus opening a window of slightly over one hour for exit,” Kinney said.
Kinney also pointed out the Tennessee Occupational Safety and Health Administration (TOSHA) had already cleared Impact Plastics, determining the company’s management “exercised reasonable diligence in dismissing employees and providing them sufficient time to leave the facility safely.”
Following Kinney’s announcement that the criminal probe was over, a statement was issued by attorney Ross Johnson, who represents company owner O’Connor.
“These past months, Impact Plastics and Mr. O’Connor have fully cooperated with the official agencies investigating the flood,” said Johnson. “The true and accurate facts are now known. Critically, and contrary to what was reported by some in the media, the TBI and the District Attorney General’s Office have now confirmed what Tennessee OSHA already determined, that ‘company management exercised reasonable diligence in dismissing employees and providing them sufficient time to leave the facility safely.’
“Impact Plastics and Gerald O’Connor continue to concentrate on seeing to the needs of members of the Impact Plastics family and grieving over the wonderful people who were lost in the flood. Mr. O’Connor is focused on rebuilding Impact Plastics for the benefit of the employees, the customers, and the community. Impact Plastics intends to continue to play a vital role in Erwin’s flood recovery.”
Attorneys representing the the families of the deceased workers couldn’t immediately be reached for comment. In the days following the tragedy, some workers said publicly they had been forbidden to stop work until the floodwaters had grown too deep for them to safely escape. Several workers were reportedly swept to their deaths from a truck.
Plaintiff’s attorney Zack Lawson, in a statement made in response to TOSHA’s ruling, indicated that some families planned to pursue legal compensation from the company through civil lawsuits. “TOSHA’s report ignores multiple witnesses’ testimonies, critical text messages, emergency alert logs and photographic evidence that tell the real story about Impact Plastics’ fatal failures,” he said. “We’re grateful that in America, juries — not bureaucrats citing unnamed sources — will decide the truth based on all the evidence.”