At 11:45 a.m. on August 28, 2012, an employee was finishing a painting assignment to coat pipes in six confined spaces at a lift station site. The employee was cleaning the pipes using a Methyl Ethyl Ketone (MEK) solvent prior to applying a two-part epoxy paint that contained Xylene, Methyl Isobutyl Ketone (MIBK), and Ethyl Benzene. The employee’s supervisor saw him entering the site and later found the employee unresponsive at the bottom of the manhole where he was working. The supervisor called 911 and emergency responders pronounced the employee dead at the scene.
