A tragic accident at Prospect Valley Dairy in Keenesburg, Colorado, that took the lives of three people on Wednesday. The alleged violations The concentrated animal feeding operation, located 35 miles northeast of Denver in Weld County, has been under investigation since January. The Weld County Sheriff’s Office and federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) are heading the investigation.
Authorities are still investigating the crash. Their working theory is that it has to do with exposure to gas in an enclosed area. Jolene Weiner, chief deputy coroner for Weld County, told the Colorado Sun that the investigation is focused on this possible cause.
“We are investigating these deaths as the possible consequence of gas exposure in a confined space,” – Jolene Weiner
The three victims who died, identified as Hispanic males, have not been identified publicly, pending notification of family members. The sad reality is that the incident highlighted is not an isolated case. According to 2020 census data, just over 30% of Weld County’s population is Hispanic or Latino. This change mirrors larger statewide demographic trends in Colorado, where the Hispanic or Latino population is now 22%.
Weld County’s rich agricultural traditions—roughly 75% of the county consists of working farmland and ranchland—formed part of the backdrop of this battleground county. This tragic event forces us to question the safety practices surrounding agricultural work, especially when concerning confined spaces and risk of gas exposure.
Melissa Chesmore, a spokesperson for the Weld County Sheriff’s Office, stated that there is no indication of criminal activity related to the incident. The investigation seeks to determine how this situation developed that could produce such a tragic outcome.
As investigators continue their work, community members are left grappling with the loss of life in what is typically a close-knit agricultural area. The active and engaged local farming community benefits from its collective resilience. Events like this shed light on the harsh reality of occupational hazards in the agriculture industry.