By Myrna Trauntvein
Times-News Correspondent
A Young Living Herb Farm employee died in an equipment
explosion at the facility on Thursday, Aug. 17.
Juan Gomez, 44, Santaquin, was the victim.
Greg Gurney, Juab County Deputy Sheriff, said one of
the huge pressure-cooker vats, used to extract essential
oils from the herb plants, apparently exploded.
At the farm there are 32 such distillers with ten
cookers under ground and 22 cookers above ground.
The Young Living Herb Farm near Mona has the only
vertical distillery in the world and utilizes stainless
steel cookers to process herbs. The herbs are steamed in the
distillery until the cell membranes break open and essential
oils are obtained.
"Gomez apparently died at the scene of massive head
injuries following the explosion," said Gurney. However,
Gomez's body was taken to the state medical examiner's
office for determination of the exact cause of death.
The 1,6000-acre herb farm is located north of Mona
near Rocky Ridge on old U.S. 91. Workers such as Gomez are
employed to grow and distill 12 herbs at the site. Others
operate a gift shop, zoo, and other tourist attractions.
Rocky Ridge EMTs were the first on the scene, said
Gurney. Mona First Responders and East Juab Ambulance
Association EMTs also responded.
"When the report of an explosion came in we responded
as quickly as possible with as many EMTs as possible because
we didn't know how many people had been injured," said
Gurney.
He said the cause of the accident had still not been
determined. "OSHA is investigating the accident," he
said.
Gomez had a wife and four older children.
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