Work says it's poison hemlock. I'm not convinced.
These plants are everywhere on my current jobsite. My work's safety personnel state that this is poison hemlock, but I'm not convinced that it is. The plants range in height from about 10 to 20 inches. Hopefully you can see the other details in the pictures. We are working in South Eastern Washington, Garfield County, just South of the Snake River.
Most of the safety personnel are from Texas and Oklahoma, and are not entirely familiar with local flora and fauna beyond what they were told by another company who barely does business in the area. They called picture that was clearly an Elk a Moose, so I really don't feel confident that they know what they're talking about. Every time I look up poison hemlock in Eastern Washington, I see a very different looking plant that is nowhere on the jobsite.
One of the locals says it's a kind of "milk weed" that they enjoy chewing on and have been chewing on for years with no ill effects, which adds another layer to the concern I have about inaccurate information from the safety team. If anyone can either appropriately identify the plant or at the very least say for certain it isn't poison hemlock, I would sincerely appreciate it!