The worst case of blatant safety violations is ending with a plea:

Motiva Enterprises pleaded no contest Tuesday to a felony charge of criminally negligent homicide and six misdemeanor assault charges in the July 17, 2001, fatal explosion and fire at its refinery near Delaware City. A Pennsylvania man working at the plant was killed.

A prosecutor said a two-year investigation led the state Attorney General's Office to conclude that Motiva's performance was "abhorrent."

A Superior Court judge ordered the company to pay $296,000 in penalties, settling the criminal case brought last month by Delaware Attorney General M. Jane Brady. Prosecutors said Motiva admitted no guilt in its plea.

That's shameful. They never recovered one of the worker's bodies, only his boots.