The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) has opened an investigation into a fatal chemical release at Woodland Pulp in Baileyville, Maine.

On January 27, 2026, 20-year old intern Kasie Malcolm, a chemical engineering student at the University of Maine, was killed and nine other workers were injured when a highly toxic gas was released into the facility. Two employees were also seriously hurt, one still remains hospitalized, according to the CSB. 

Based on initial information Woodland Pulp sent to the CSB, the industrial accident may have involved concentrated sulfuric acid mixing with sulfurous compounds in an enclosed process sewer. The mix likely created the hydrogen sulfide, which was released into the bleach plant area of the mill.