The burned out shell of a chicken-processing plant in Hamlet, N.C., where 25 workers died nine years ago in one of the nation''s worst workplace disasters may finally be torn down.
President Clinton is expected to sign a bill passed last week by Congress that includes $50,000 to destroy what is left of the Imperial Foods plant.
The 1991 fire focused attention on working conditions for industrial employees.
Fleeing workers found some exterior doors locked, and some died while trying to escape.
A steel door stamped with the blackened footprints of employees who tried to kick their way to safety hangs in the Smithsonian Institution.
Imperial went bankrupt following the disaster, and the property has remained under court control.
Proposals for the site include a memorial park or a new industrial plant.
by Virginia Sutcliffe