Mushroom worker electrocuted

State worker safety officials are investigating the electrocution of a worker at a mushroom packing plant near Colusa.

Gerald Bookout, 41, of Marysville, was killed about 10:30 a.m. Tuesday while doing electrical work on a cold-storage unit at Premier Mushrooms LP, according to Colusa County sheriff’s Sgt. Kevin Erdelt.

Deputies and Sacramento River Fire District firefighters responded to reports of the accident within 15 minutes, but Bookout died at the scene, Erdelt said Wednesday.

The state’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health, or Cal OSHA, has opened an investigation into Bookout’s death, according to spokesman Dean Fryer, who said the victim apparently touched a live 480-volt line.

It was not immediately known whether other Premier Mushrooms workers had tried to cut off power to the cold-storage gear before the Colusa accident, Erdelt said. The plant, located at Colusa Industrial Park southwest of the city, includes mushroom growing, packing and refrigeration areas spread over two lots.

Premier Mushrooms, which opened in 2006, is the second mushroom grower to call the industrial park home in recent years. A previous operator, Colusa Mushroom Inc., opened there in 2003 but later closed amid complaints from nearby residents about compost odors.

One of several farming-related businesses at Colusa Industrial Park, Premier Mushrooms occupies about 21,000 square feet and employs more than 100 workers, according to the industrial park’s Web site.

Neither Cal OSHA nor the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration has records of violations by Premier Mushrooms, state records indicate.

Fryer estimated Cal OSHA’s inquiry into Bookout’s death could last up to six months. The agency will share its findings with the county District Attorney’s office, which would decide whether to file criminal charges.

Contact Howard Yune at 749-4708 or hyune@appealdemocrat.com. Appeal-Democrat reporter Rob Young contributed to this report