The memory of June 7 is burned forever in Dmitriy Voloshin's mind.
The 27-year-old University of Washington graduate was spending the sunny, almost-summer Friday riding bikes with his wife and 2-month-old son in Pasco when he received a text message from his family.
"Pray for dad."
He panicked. At first he thought his father, who was driving a semitanker that day for Pasco-based chemical distributor Two Rivers Terminal LLC, may have fallen and broken a bone. But by the time he rushed home and packed his son's car seat into his car, he got another text message: His 56-year-old father was dead.
Attorneys for the family allege he died after inhaling toxic fumes inside a tanker he was instructed to clean out.
That afternoon, Viktor Voloshin had transported a recently emptied tanker of emulsified sulfur -- which can let off a highly toxic gas -- to Two Rivers' Pasco terminal, according to a wrongful death complaint his family filed this month against the company in King County Superior Court. Despite Viktor Voloshin never being trained on the dangers of handling the chemical mixture, an employee told him to clean out its residue, the lawsuit says. He was given a ladder to climb down and into the tanker, but no protective breathing gear, attorneys for the family alleged.
Less than an hour later, another worker found him unresponsive at the bottom of the tanker, the complaint states.
The family's lawsuit alleges the company failed to properly train employees on safety procedures and failed to provide them with adequate safety equipment.
Beyond seeking accountability for his father's death, Dmitriy Voloshin is hoping the lawsuit will force Two Rivers to fix what he considers an ongoing disregard for workplace safety. The state's Department of Labor and Industries has fined the company nearly $1 million for workplace safety violations since 2022, including $394,200 after Viktor Voloshin's death.
The company, which formed in 2003, corrected other violations L&I detected during inspections dating back to 2019, state records show.
"I've been a lawyer going on 41 years now and this is by far the most egregious case of the disrespect of the safety and rules and regulations of work I've ever seen," said Sim Osborn, the family's attorney. "They're not changing, and this has to end."
A spokesperson for Two Rivers Terminal LLC declined to comment Thursday.
The state fined Two Rivers nearly $200,000 in 2022 after finding employees were entering railcar hoppers to dislodge ammonium nitrate, a toxic substance, without appropriate safety precautions, and working on top of the railcars without fall equipment.
A year later, the state fined the company nearly $480,000 after learning an employee was seriously injured after he breathed in toxic hydrogen sulfide gas without proper respiratory protection and, incapacitated, fell about 12 feet from the top of a the railcar.
The company has appealed all three citations, according to the state.
Dmitriy Voloshin said he didn't learn about the citations until the day after his father's death, when he turned to the internet to search for answers. He decided to get a lawyer when he read about the employee who was seriously hurt after breathing in toxic fumes on the job.
"I want accountability. I want real change," he said. "It's not just seeking justice for my dad, it's holding this company accountable so no other family has to go through the pain we went through."
Voloshin raced to the Two Rivers terminal after receiving his family's text on June 7, getting there just in time to see the county coroner's truck arrive. A firetruck, ambulance and yellow tape blocked him and some of his siblings from approaching the tanker where their father still lay.
Voloshin said he and his siblings stood there for about two hours as the sun set. They felt helpless. Around 8 p.m., after the ambulance and firetruck had left, Voloshin said he was allowed to see his father's body, which had been removed from the tanker and placed in the back of the coroner's truck.
"The world just felt like it didn't matter," he said. "That pain is something I wouldn't wish on anyone."
Voloshin, his mother and his 11 siblings are still in the process of grieving a man who was a devoted father, hardworking, optimistic and the type of person who "loved to take new people's hands and get to know them."
In pursuit of a better life, Viktor Voloshin and his wife moved in 1998 from Ukraine to the U.S. with Dmitriy and his then four siblings. His father began working as a mechanic and later became a truck driver, starting his own business that contracted with Two Rivers, Dmitriy Voloshin said.
He doted on his grandchildren -- 15 now, including two who were born after he died -- and kept his online shopping cart full of toys for their birthdays.
Viktor Voloshin's family could recognize his voice everywhere. He loved to sing and was a skilled musician, playing piano, guitar and accordion. Among his favorite hobbies was teaching his children worship songs to perform at church.
Without his father, Dmitriy Voloshin said his life and the lives of his family members will never sound or feel the same.
"Workplace safety should be a priority," he said. "He was a man who worked so hard. He loved his family. He loved me. He deserved to come home."