Investigate Midwest’s 2025 investigation found at least eight grain explosions at Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) facilities from 2018 through 2024, based on Purdue University agricultural dust-explosion data. Across a broader set of ADM plant dust-explosion incidents, the newsroom reported one death and 15 people with severe or life-changing injuries. Its reporting and federal records describe recurring concerns about accumulated dust, equipment maintenance, and whether workers and managers understood and followed safety procedures. ADM has disputed some enforcement findings and says safety is a priority; those responses do not erase the agency findings or resolve what remains contested.
What the ADM explosion counts include
The numbers depend on which events are counted. Investigate Midwest’s May 2025 review of Purdue researcher Kingsly Ambrose’s agricultural dust-explosion data identified at least eight ADM grain explosions from 2018 through 2024—about 13% of agricultural-industry grain-explosion incidents in that dataset over the same period. A July 2025 follow-up described the July 2024 Decatur explosion as ADM’s 15th overall since 2018, a broader tally drawn from other records. These are different counts with different scopes, not competing estimates of the same dataset.
Investigate Midwest also reported one death and 15 people with severe or life-changing injuries across ADM plant dust-explosion incidents. That aggregate should not be confused with OSHA’s specific injury counts for the two 2023 Decatur explosions: three workers injured in April and eight in September.
What happened at ADM facilities
| Date and facility | Event and reported findings | Injuries or response |
|---|---|---|
| 2018–19, Decatur, Illinois | OSHA’s October 2023 retrospective described a 2019 citation and settlement involving inspection, testing, preventive maintenance, and procedures consistent with equipment manufacturers’ instructions. Separately, Investigate Midwest’s May 2025 account said OSHA did not fine ADM over a 2019 explosion after finding that standards did not generally apply to most concerns it identified and declining to use the general duty clause at that time. | The two accounts describe different aspects of OSHA’s earlier actions; they should not be collapsed into a single finding or outcome. The cited accounts do not give a single injury figure for these earlier events. |
| January 2019, Clinton, Iowa | Investigate Midwest reported a silo fire involving smoldering processed corn. Iowa OSHA found shortcomings in emergency preparation and assignment of roles, according to the newsroom. | In the response described by the report, water was introduced through a hatch. This was a related silo-fire episode, not an event to add to Purdue’s grain-dust-explosion count. |
| Christmas Eve 2022, Fremont, Nebraska | A reported mechanical malfunction created a spark; grain dust caught fire and damaged equipment. In its January 2026 follow-up, Investigate Midwest described OSHA inspector observations of about one inch of dust where the agency’s cleanup threshold was one-eighth inch. The report also described interview records about managers’ familiarity with standards and the use of compressed air to clean dust while machinery was running. | The cited follow-up focuses on dust conditions, controls, and awareness; it does not provide a specific injury count for this event. |
| April 2023, Decatur | OSHA said the explosion-suppression system involved in the incident was nonfunctional and in disrepair, and had not been inspected or tested since late 2016. | OSHA reported three injured workers. |
| September 2023, Decatur | OSHA said its inspection was open when it issued its October 18, 2023 release. | OSHA reported eight injured workers. Investigate Midwest later reported that 11 people were severely injured across the April and September explosions. |
| July 2024, Decatur East | Investigate Midwest’s July 2025 follow-up reported that OSHA found prevention measures inadequate after a tower explosion. The agency reportedly identified the absence of a chemical suppression system on the tower and concerns about dust-collector installation and venting direction, but did not determine the precise cause. | Employees evacuated; no injuries were reported, although the explosion caused property damage. OSHA issued recommendations but no citation after this inspection, according to the follow-up. |
The distinction between the 2023 and 2024 inspections matters: a no-citation outcome after the July 2024 incident does not resolve contested enforcement matters arising from the 2023 explosions.
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Why grain dust can turn into an explosion
Grain dust is combustible. When fine dust becomes airborne or accumulates where an ignition source is present, it can catch fire or explode. OSHA Area Director Edward Marshall said in the agency’s October 2023 release: “Agriculture dust can explode in mere seconds when an ignition source is readily available.” A fire or blast can also disturb settled dust, allowing another explosion to follow.
OSHA’s historical report on the separate 1998 DeBruce grain-elevator catastrophe explains why dust control must be treated as part of an integrated safety system: the agency’s account of a National Academy of Sciences panel found that 12 of 14 explosions studied from 1979 to 1981 were followed by secondary explosions, which generally caused most of the resulting damage. DeBruce was not an ADM facility. Its relevance is the hazard mechanism, not evidence about ADM’s events.
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OSHA’s October 2023 ADM release described several prevention measures that work together:
- Housekeeping: control dust accumulation before it becomes a combustible fuel source.
- Dust collection: capture dust at the point it is generated and maintain collection equipment.
- Ignition control: prevent sparks and other ignition sources from reaching combustible dust.
- Equipment inspection and maintenance: inspect, test, and maintain protective systems according to applicable requirements and equipment instructions.
- Written procedures and worker awareness: make sure safety practices are understood and followed, including when cleaning dust and working around operating machinery.
What OSHA records and the Fremont follow-up add
The April 2023 Decatur findings illustrate how equipment maintenance can matter before an emergency begins. OSHA said the suppression system involved in that explosion was in disrepair and had not been inspected or tested since late 2016. The January 2026 Fremont follow-up added a different kind of evidence: Investigate Midwest reported OSHA interview material describing dust about one inch deep in an area where the agency requires cleanup at one-eighth inch, as well as limited manager familiarity with relevant standards and unsafe dust-cleaning practices.
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The difference between the observed dust depth and the threshold is substantial, but the reporting does not establish that this dust measurement alone caused the 2022 fire. The follow-up presents it as evidence about housekeeping and dust-control conditions. Former OSHA administrator John Newquist, commenting in an email quoted by Investigate Midwest in 2026, said: “I have seen much worse (than one inch) but I’ve also seen people keep it under the 8th inch.”
Investigate Midwest’s 2025 reporting also quoted an ADM plant manager saying, “I know I have a dust problem.” Former OSHA administrator John Newquist framed the accountability question this raised in an interview with the newsroom: “The real, million-dollar question is, Why didn’t they follow their own program? This is one of the 500 largest companies in the United States.” The quotes point to the difference between having procedures on paper and ensuring that equipment, inspections, and everyday work practices meet them.
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What ADM and regulators have said
ADM has described safety as a priority and has contested some OSHA enforcement findings. In the July 2025 follow-up, spokesperson Jackie Anderson said the company’s emergency protocols worked during the July 2024 Decatur East incident, that nobody was injured, and that OSHA issued no citations after its inspection. She added that OSHA had made recommendations for the East Plant and that ADM was addressing them. OSHA’s reported recommendations and no-citation outcome are distinct from OSHA’s findings about the 2023 Decatur incidents.
Investigate Midwest reported in May 2025 that ADM contested fines related to the 2023 explosions. Its reporting described those investigations as open at that time. The materials cited in this article do not establish the later disposition of those contested matters or whether the recommendations after the 2024 incident were completed. The July 2025 follow-up’s report of no citation after the 2024 inspection should not be read as a finding that every prevention system at ADM facilities was adequate.
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What the record can—and cannot—show
Investigate Midwest said it reviewed Purdue agricultural dust-explosion data, requested OSHA investigations, and used local reporting and fire-department records to identify additional incidents. The newsroom noted that some fires could not be linked to grain and were excluded, and that OSHA destroys records after five years. The January 2026 Fremont follow-up said figures for 2025 were not yet available. Those limits mean public incident tallies may not capture every relevant event, and totals from different sources may use different definitions.
The documented pattern is not that every ADM fire or explosion had the same cause or received the same regulatory outcome. Rather, across incidents and records, the reporting describes recurring risks involving dust accumulation, dust collection and suppression equipment, inspection and maintenance, ignition control, and worker awareness. The federal and state records, investigative reporting, and ADM’s responses each address different pieces of that record; none alone answers every question about what happened at each site.
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