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Criminal Charges in Colebrook Explosion That Killed Two

Jesse Kennett, left, and Donald Kendall died in the explosion at the Black Mag plant in Colebrook.
Jesse Kennett, left, and Donald Kendall died in the explosion at the Black Mag plant in Colebrook.

The owner of a Colebrook plant that exploded in 2010 faces criminal charges. NHPR’s Chris Jensen reports.

Coos County Attorney Robert Mekeel says a grand jury has indicted  Craig Sanborn the owner of the Black Mag plant in Colebrook.

He faces manslaughter and negligent homicide charges for an explosion that killed Jesse Kennett and Donald Kendall.

A third man was badly injured.

The indictments came down late Friday.

Occupational Safety and Health Administration officials have said they were not aware of the plant before the explosion.

But afterwards OSHA concluded there were huge safety problems and it blamed Sanborn, who denied being at fault.

Sanborn couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

For some the overwhelming question remains how such a dangerous place could have operated without the intervention of some governmental agency?

For NHPR News this is Chris Jensen 

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