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Helene: Erwin plastics company will face no criminal charges in worker deaths
This still image from video shot by a victim of the flooding at Impact Plastics in Erwin illustrates the terror of the flood that killed six employees of the plant at the height of Tropical Storm Helene in September 2024. Family of Johnny Peterson via WSMV
Attorney for families says evidence ignored; some cases will move to civil court
ERWIN — Prosecutors decided that no criminal charges will be filed in connection with the deaths of six employees of a Unicoi County manufacturing facility during last year’s catastrophic Hurricane Helene.
District Attorney General Steven Finney of the First Judicial District — whose office oversees cases in Washington, Carter, Unicoi and Johnson counties in northeastern Tennessee — announced the decision nine months after asking the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to determine what happened on September 27, 2024, when six employees of Impact Plastics lost their lives as unprecedented flooding from Hurricane Helene, downgraded to a tropical storm at that point, swept the region and killed hundreds.
It remains unclear what the future holds for communities devastated by the hurricane, many of which are still struggling to rebuild. It’s believed that 252 people lost their lives due to Helene, and officials have estimated the storm caused nearly $80 billion in damage.