The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration has fined Champion International Corp. $1,980 for six “serious” worker safety violations identified in inspections between Dec. 26 and May 7.

But the OSHA inspections failed to find any evidence of chemical poisoning that may have led to the death of 34-year-old Norman Crossman of Searsport, or the illnesses of other workers, said C. William Freeman III, OSHA’s area director.

It was Crossman’s fatal heart attack Dec. 7 that touched off the investigation that was broadened to include interviews with about 20 other workers who reported various symptoms, some related to Crossman’s, they felt might have been caused by chemical exposure.

“We didn’t find any overexposure, nor could we trace any chemicals that were used in the workplace to that death,” said Freemen. “We couldn’t trace (chemical) overexposure to (other) individuals.”

He said chemical levels in the atmosphere at the time of the inspections were checked, as well as Crossman’s autopsy report.

“We’re obviously pleased that no connection was found between chemicals in the workplace and our employees’ concerns,” said Seth Kursman, a company spokesman. “But this in no way reduces our interest in providing a safe work environment.”

“I didn’t figure they would ever prove anything,” said Debra Crossman, Norman’s wife. “Unless they were in there when it happened, they would never see anything. Only the people who were there would know what happened.”

She said she would continue to pursue a Workers’ Compensation claim that seeks to prove Crossman’s heart deteriorated after he was exposed to methylene chloride “and other hazardous substances” in the course of his work as a laboratory inspector.

Some other workers also have filed Workers’ Compensation claims related to alleged chemical exposure, some dating back a number of years.

Other inspections and studies of the area where Crossman worked have not turned up chemical exposure problems, company officials have said.

The pulp laboratory, however, was renovated after a company investigation that yielded worker testimony of illness and odors, and evidence that chemical odors and chemicals could enter the room and the drinking water system.

The six violations cited by OSHA included a broken handrail on a stairway to the redesign trailer; difficulty opening a door near paper machine No. 5; lack of a suitable guard on a printing press in the supercalendar laboratory; unprotected guards for belts and pulleys in the analytical and TMP pulmac laboratories; smoking allowed where combustible liquids were used and stored in the analytical laboratory; and an uncovered pail of solvent in the chemical storage room.