Clatsop County Court arraigned two men on Friday on felony assault counts, including one that carries a mandatory 70-month term upon conviction, for their roles in the butane-related explosion that occurred in Astoria last October.
A Clatsop County grand jury in April charged Jason Oei, 44, and William Chris West, 41, on four counts of recklessly endangering another person and second- and third-degree assault. The state’s Measure 11 mandatory sentencing list includes second-degree assault as one of its crimes.
Joshua Marquis, the district attorney for Clatsop County, stated that the case was not a narcotics prosecution.
Marquis, a vocal opponent of the 2014 ballot initiative that legalized marijuana for recreational use, stated that this is not a marijuana case. This is an instance of an industrial explosion that was preventable.
When the room filled with the combustible gas and burst, West and Oei were producing butane hash oil for their company, Higher Level Concentrates. The business was authorized by the state to process marijuana for the medical market at the time of the explosion.
Jacob Magley, a 34-year-old construction worker, was inside the building when the explosion happened. He recuperated from his wounds for a month in a burn unit in Portland.
Magley has accused the corporation of harmful workplace practices and filed a lawsuit against it. He asserts that West handled butane, a highly flammable gas, while Oei dabbed, or consumed cannabis oil. Magley claims that the Oct. 19 explosion that rocked the building was triggered by Oei’s dabbing. West was hurt in the explosion as well.
On Friday, calls to the lawyers for both individuals were not immediately answered. In court, West and Oei entered not guilty pleas.
According to a spokeswoman, their applications for recreational marijuana processor and production licenses were inactivated by the Oregon Liquor Control Commission because of inactivity.
Their company received a $5,300 fine from Oregon OSHA last month for a number of workplace safety infractions. The company received a citation for not having a sufficient electrical system, not ventilating the building, and not obtaining the necessary local licenses.
According to OSHA data, workers produced hash oil using an open loop system. Because butane can quickly fill a space and a spark from something as commonplace as a pilot light can start a flame, those systems are regarded as being particularly dangerous.
Fire officials discovered 200 to 300 butane canisters ruptured at the explosion site, according to the state investigation.
This year, a new law pertaining to hash oil blasts was created by the Legislature. Arson in connection with the production of a cannabis extract is a felony. The explosion in Astoria last year is exempt from the statute.
Crombie, Noelle
@noellecrombie; 503-276-7184
