ENDICOTT -- Huron Real Estate Associates has been cited for four "serious citations" after an investigation by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration into a steam explosion last summer that killed one maintenance worker and seriously injured another.

OSHA has proposed $8,750 in fines for the four citations. Three of the citations relate to the fact that Huron failed to develop and train employees on procedures to effectively lock out the high-pressure steam system, according to a Tuesday press release from OSHA.

"Proper procedures that could have prevented this accident were not developed, followed or provided to the workers," said Chris R. Adams, area director of OSHA's Syracuse office, which conducted the investigation.

A fourth citation was issued for two valve handles that protruded into an exit path and was unrelated to the accident.

On Aug. 3, two maintenance workers were performing routine repair work on a pressurized steam pipe in Building 14 on the Huron campus at 1301 North St. in Endicott when the blast sent steam and shrapnel flying through the room. Marion Korcipa, 54, of Endicott, died in the explosion and Ronald Walter, 58, of Brackney, Pa., was seriously burned.

The cause of the accident was a leaking valve that allowed water to collect in a section of pipe that had been closed off from the steam system. When steam was reintroduced into that section of pipe, it combined with the water to create a "water hammer" that traveled along the pipe to where the two men were working and exploded, according to the OSHA press release.

Huron Vice President Jay Simonis issued a statement Tuesday saying the company strongly disagrees with OSHA's conclusion that employees were not given adequate training.

"It is our belief that Huron's procedures and training meet or exceed the OSHA standard, and we intend to contest these citations," the statement read.

Huron has 15 business days to request and participate in an informal conference with OSHA to settle the citations or pursue litigation to contest them before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission, according to OSHA spokesman Ted Fitzgerald.

OSHA, a division of the U.S. Department of Labor, is required to investigate any workplace fatalities. Fitzgerald said he couldn't legally say if OSHA would check on Huron's procedures in the future, but that employers know future inspections are always a possibility.

The daughter of one victim hoped the citations would make Huron re-examine its policies.

"Hopefully they're going to continue to brush up on those policies and adhere to them 100 percent," said Monica Walter-Byrne, daughter of Ronald Walter.

Walter-Byrne, of Vestal, also questioned the amount of the proposed fine.

"A $9,000 fine doesn't really cover a fatality," she said.

The fines are based on the number, severity and category of the violations -- not the severity of the accident, Fitzgerald said: "OSHA does not put a dollar value on human life."