N.C. plant to reopen after ammonia leak kills 1

updated 5:24 p.m. ET June 21, 2009

LUMBER BRIDGE, N.C. - A poultry processing plant will restart its operations just two days after an ammonia leak killed one worker and injured four others, the company said Sunday.

Mountaire Farms said authorities have inspected the plant and declared the building safe. The Millsboro, Del.-based company said the plant in Lumber Bridge will reopen Monday morning and return to full operation.

Mountaire Farms plans to hold an internal employee meeting and provide grief counselors for workers. Authorities said that 30 to 40 people were at the plant when the leak occurred and the site employees 2,500 people total.

Authorities have said that 47-year-old Clifton Swain of Fayetteville died Saturday from the ammonia leak, which happened while workers were doing maintenance work on a piece of machinery. Investigators have ruled it was an accident and that no crime was involved.

"We are deeply saddened by the loss of one of our own. Clifton Swain was a valued employee and held in high esteem by his coworkers," Mountaire Farms said in a news release. "Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and the injured employees in the tragic incident at the Lumber Bridge plant."

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