Trenching & Excavation Accidents 2

Trenching & Excavation Accidents #2

This page was last updated on 05/06/2010

Backhoe Severs buried Electrical Power CABLE

On February 12, 2002, at the construction site for the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, a backhoe operator struck and severed a buried 240-volt temporary power cable with his backhoe bucket. This tripped a circuit breaker and the operator was not injured.  The contractor reported this as a near miss.  (ORPS Report ORO–ORNL-X10SNS-2002-0001) The buried cable supplied electrical power for the construction of the SNS Front End Building, and was included in surveys for buried electrical lines.  This temporary power line was noted in the original excavation permit, and was marked at the construction site for information.  However, since the cable lay outside the area being excavated, no particular care was taken to preserve its markings, and the markings were substantially obliterated during the excavation.  As the excavation progressed, the height of the earthen mound forming around the excavation became a safety concern, and the excavation crew decided to slope the wall.  This sloping activity entailed digging beyond the area originally planned, and into the location where the temporary power line was buried. The investigation of this occurrence is still ongoing, and there are no formal causal analyses or lessons learned at this time.  However, it appears clear at this point that the excavation permit should have been amended to address the new area being dug.  If done correctly, the amendment process would have identified the buried electrical line from the previous surveys. On January 30, 2002, a similar event involving a backhoe severing a 480-volt buried line occurred near Buildings 52 and 58 at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility.  The site utility drawing incorrectly indicated that there were no electrical lines in the vicinity.  (ORPS Report ORO–SURA-TJNAF-2002-0001)  On February 18, 2002, a contractor cut through a 110-volt conduit with his concrete-cutting saw while installing a shower drain line at the Argonne National Laboratory.  As-built drawings were inaccurate, and there had been no instrument surveys for embedded conduits.  (ORPS Report CH-AA-ANLE-ANLEPES-2002-0002)  There were no injuries in either occurrence. The Office of Performance Assessment and Analysis has issued a lessons learned on Electrical Intrusion Events through the Society for Effective Lessons Learned Sharing (SELLS).  This document (Identifier:  HQ-EH-2002-01) can be accessed from the SELLS database at http://tis.eh.doe.gov/ll/listdb.html. The Office of Performance Assessment and Analysis is also requesting information from DOE and subcontractor offices on good practices in excavation and electrical penetration safety.  The scope of electrical intrusion events includes accidental contact or penetration of underground utilities and embedded or hidden utilities within structures (i.e., walls, floors, and ceilings).  These good practices should come from facility programs that have been successful in preventing penetration-type incidents.  We intend to compile this information and share it throughout the DOE complex. Individuals or organizations wishing to respond to this request may contact Jim Snell, (301) 903-4094 or at [email protected].

Worker Freed From Trench

Emergency crews have freed a man after he was knocked into a ditch Wednesday morning. The construction crew was working on a sewer line at State Route 128 and Highway 50 when the incident occurred. WLWT Eyewitness News 5‘s Brian Hamrick reported that Richard Kidd, 24, was knocked into the trench by the bucket of a backhoe. Kidd was partially covered in the ditch, Hamrick reported. It took rescue crews an hour to free him. Hamrick reported that he fell into a safety area of the ditch, which prevented the trench from collapsing around him. Kidd, a native of Ironton , Ohio , was taken to University hospital and was expected to be released later in the day, WLWT reported. Crews had to work quickly because of the cold temperatures. “In this type of weather hypothermia becomes an issue because it took a little time to get all the equipment to him,” Whitewater Fire Chief Bill Darby said. Hamrick reported that the bucket on the backhoe was a “quick-release” style, which allows workers to quickly change tools. For some reason the mechanism snapped, the bucket rolled down a hill and hit the worker, Hamrick reported. Rescue crew officials told Hamrick that this was the second time they’ve dealt with this type of incident. WLWT Eyewitness News 5 and ChannelCincinnati.com will continue to update this story as additional information becomes available.

UPDATE, OSHA Cites Warner Robins Company; Proposes $58,800 In Penalties for Endangering Workers in Trench

WARNER ROBINS , Ga. – Exposing employees to trenching hazards, which led to the death of one employee and injury to another, may cost Pro Choice Construction, Inc., $58,800 in proposed penalties. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued the proposed penalties today and cited the company for alleged serious and willful safety violations. On Aug. 23, two employees were inside a trench box installing and aligning sewer pipe. Rather than moving the trench box, management officials allowed the workers to step outside the box to install a final section. As the employees worked unprotected in the eight-foot-deep, seven-foot-wide trench, the sandy walls of the excavation collapsed and trapped them. OSHA cited the company for one alleged willful safety violation, with a proposed penalty of $49,000, for not providing employees with adequate protection while they worked in the trench. A willful violation is one committed with an intentional disregard of, or plain indifference to, the requirements of the Occupational Safety and Health Act. “Management officials were aware of the hazards. They knew how quickly trench walls could collapse,” said G. T. Breezley, OSHA’s Atlanta-East area director. “In fact, there had been several wall collapses at the site before this fatal accident, yet employees were routinely allowed to work outside the trench boxes when a job was near completion.” OSHA also cited the Warner Robins-based company for two alleged serious safety violations with proposed penalties totaling $9,800 for failing to remove employees from hazardous areas and failing to train employees to recognize and avoid unsafe conditions. Serious violations are those in which a substantial probability of death or serious physical harm could result, and the employer knew, or should have known, of the hazard. Pro Choice Construction, Inc., has 15 working days to contest the citations and proposed penalties before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. Inspection of the Warner Robins job site was conducted by OSHA’s Atlanta-East area office located at the LaVista Perimeter Office Park , Bldg. 7, Suite 110 , Tucker, Ga. ; phone: (770) 493-6644.

Explosion singes houses, cuts gas to neighborhood
By Jill Blackman, Tribune staff reporter, Published February 26, 2002, 5:33 PM CST
Dozens of households remained without natural gas service this evening after a gas main exploded on the Southwest Side, shooting flames into the air and sending two city workers to the hospital, officials said. The fire was extinguished at about 4:40 p.m. after firefighters battled the blaze for more than three hours and Peoples Gas shut down 17 gas main valves to cut off the fuel supply for the flames. At one point, about 200 customers in the area were without gas. That number had fallen to about 130 by 5:30 p.m. and was expected to decline as the night went on and as Peoples restored service to the neighborhood. The explosion occurred at 1:39 p.m. near 107th Street and Kedzie Avenue in the Mount Greenwood neighborhood when a city Sewer Department backhoe struck a six-inch gas main, said Chicago Fire Department spokesman Will Knight. City Fire Commissioner James Joyce said a six-inch main was struck, but that it could have been connected to a 20-inch main. The victims, both city sewer workers, suffered minor burns, said Denise Stillman, a spokeswoman for the Little Company of Mary Hospital in Evergreen Park . Both victims were sent home in good condition late this afternoon, Stillman said. There were two other city sewer workers on the scene, but they apparently refused treatment, Joyce said. Local television reports showed large flames leaping out of the ground where the gas main was broken for most of the afternoon. Kedzie Avenue was blocked off from 103rd to 108th Streets as firefighters poured water on the fire and on three adjacent houses, one of which had its entire front singed black by the heat. Tribune staff reporter Karen Rivedal contributed to this report.

Sewer trench collapses; Cave-in buries construction worker

By Christina DeNardo, Staff writer
A construction worker installing a sewer line died Monday when the trench he was in collapsed. The man’s name was not released because his family had not been notified. He was 50 years old and lived in South Carolina , said Carolyn Hinson, spokeswoman for the Fayetteville Public Works Commission. Hinson said the accident happened at about 3 p.m. at the intersection of McArthur Road and Sussex Drive . Sussex Drive runs south from McArthur Road between Ramsey Street and Rosehill Road . The area was recently annexed by the city. The man was in an 11-foot-deep trench installing an 8-inch diameter pipe. It took 11/2 / hours for rescue workers to get his body out. The man worked for McClam Associates, a contractor from South Carolina that was hired by the city, Hinson said. The man had worked for the company for more than 10 years. The sewer project started in November and is scheduled to finish in June. Construction has stopped, pending an investigation by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Hinson said. Seven other people were working on the site at the time of the accident. Some live near Little Mountain, S.C., where the contractor is based. Staff writer Christina DeNardo can be reached at 486-3574 or [email protected]

Disruption after gas pipeline cut

Commercial users of gas are making alternative arrangements as a result of a cut in supply in the lower North Island. A 10-to-16 metre section of pipe was damaged by a contractor’s bulldozer west of Palmerston North on Monday, but the Natural Gas Corporation says the problem should be fixed by midnight Tuesday. Timber processor Panpac Forest Products Limited shut down two-thirds of its pulp line because of the gas shortages, and there will be no production at Heinz-Watties plants in Hastings. Wellington and Kenepuru Hospitals are also affected. And Contact Energy says it hopes the Natural Gas Corporation can deliver on its claim that the pipeline will be repaired by midnight. Contact’s corporate affairs manager David Hunt says its biggest 120 customers are not using gas to try and ensure the existing gas in the pipeline is sufficient to maintain supply. That would ensure the company avoids a major logistical problem in relighting thousands of pilot lights for individual consumers once supply was restored.

Okolona gas service disrupted

Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2002, Staff report

OKOLONA – Natural gas service here was disrupted Tuesday after a third-party contractor struck a natural gas pipeline in a construction area, officials with the Mississippi Valley Gas Company said. About 1,525 MVG customers in Okolona were affected by the accident which happened just before noon. The natural gas company sent 31 service personnel to the area to begin lighting pilot lights and providing other assistance. Service was expected to be fully restored by Tuesday evening.

Explosion, fire injure three in Chesterfield

BY MARK BOWES, TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER, Feb 20, 2002

Three workers were injured, one critically, when a natural gas line ruptured yesterday near Southside Speedway in Chesterfield County, triggering an inferno that sent flames high into the air. A 21-year-old employee of W.E. Curling Inc., an underground utility company that contracts with Columbia Gas of Virginia, was critically burned in the 3:40 p.m. explosion and fire at Genito and Warbro roads. The worker, whose name was not released, suffered third-degree burns to his hands and first- and second-degree burns to his face and chest. He was flown by Medflight helicopter to Virginia Commonwealth University’s Medical College of Virginia Hospitals. Two co-workers suffered less serious injuries. One was taken to MCV, and the second refused to be transported, said Chesterfield fire Capt. David Bailey. Bailey said the men were working on a Columbia Gas line on Warbro Road, just south of Genito Road, when an explosion rocked the area, sending gas-fed flames into the air. The fire burned a nearby pickup truck and backhoe, and melted some siding on the Clodfelter Machine Inc. building at 3017 Warbro Road. “They were actually working on the gas line,” Bailey said. “I understood that they were nearing completion of their work for the day” when the line apparently ruptured. “I’m not sure if they were filling the hole back up or not.” Bailey said it’s possible that static electricity sparked the explosion, though the incident is still being investigated. Firefighters had the situation under control within 40 minutes, but they let the fire burn until workers could shut off the gas supply about 100 yards away. The line was capped at 5:15 p.m. “We put these fires out by eliminating the source of the fuel,” Bailey said. “We could put the fire out, but then it would just explode back up.” Bob Innes, a spokesman for Columbia Gas, said about 900 of the utility’s customers in the Brandermill area could possibly lose service overnight as workers repaired the damaged gas line. Innes said the workers involved in yesterday’s incident were putting the finishing touches on a gas-line relocation project tied to the widening of Genito Road.

Cut natural gas line forces Salina Town Hall evacuation

Friday, February 15, 2002

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Salina Town Hall was evacuated for nearly four hours Thursday morning after a maintenance worker severed an unmarked natural gas line in the basement of the former school building on School Road. Among those evacuated were children in a day-care program and a Head Start program. The day-care children moved to Immaculate Heart of Mary Church about a block away, while the Head Start children went to Kirnan Real Estate’s office at School and Old Liverpool roads. Parents picked their children up at those sites. The accident happened shortly before the town offices opened at 9 a.m. The building reopened, following repairs and inspection, about 12:30 p.m., said Salina Deputy Supervisor Christine Slocum. Town Justice Andrew Piraino presided over a wedding, which went off pretty much on time. Jerry Rosen

Worker pulled from grave

A grave digger was trapped for almost four hours on Thursday when a grave collapsed, burying him in thick clay up to his waist. The 25-year-old man was partially buried when the walls of the trench collapsed at a cemetery in Melbourne’s south-east about 2:30pm (AEDT). Rescuers worked frantically to free him, bringing in specialist digging equipment to avoid further injury. A spokesman from the Country Fire Authority said the man was rescued about 6.20pm. “We’ve now rescued that chap from the grave, the Springvale Necropolis,” the spokesman said. The man was taken to Monash Medical Centre, where he is reported to be in a satisfactory condition with leg injuries. Earlier, a Metropolitan Ambulance Service (MAS) spokesman said the man was conscious throughout the ordeal. Crews from the State Emergency Service and the Metropolitan Fire Brigade were also on hand and reinforced the walls of the grave to prevent further collapse. MAS officers said the man, from Narre Warren, had been treated for shock at the scene and an intravenous drip was used to prevent dehydration. It is believed the man was using a shovel to put the finishing touches to the grave after the bulk of the work had earlier been done with a digging machine.

Contractor ruptures natural gas line; High school cleared for safety

By Sherris Moreira-Byers, Herald Staff Writer

Students at Hickory High School were evacuated for about 15 minutes when a four-inch gas line was broken near the south entrance of the school. “It smelled like propane from a grill,” sophomore Amanda Mlakar said, describing the odor in and around the school. The line break occurred around 2 p.m. when a contractor for the water company broke the line as part of work for the widening project of state Route 18, said Ken Baumann, vice president and general manager of Consumers Pennsylvania Water Company, Shenango Valley Division. “It was hit by a contractor that is installing the water line that relates to the relocation of the water lines because of the road widening,” he said. “We’re putting in a 12-inch water line up there, and in every case, water lines are below gas lines to prevent freezing.” The water company notified 911 and the school and students were evacuated as a precaution, Baumann said. “The kids responded beautifully and the adults responded beautifully,” Karen Ionta, Hermitage School District superintendent said. “Fifteen more minutes and they would have been out of school.” Nancy Taylor, a media spokesperson for National Fuel, said the line was shut off after 20 minutes, and that it was being repaired Friday afternoon. She added it was not a high-pressure line and that no one was out of service. Baumann said the water company tries to avoid hitting gas lines, but information about their whereabouts isn’t always accurate. “We usually do a pretty good job of avoiding them,” he said, adding that he did not have specific details about how the actual break occurred Friday afternoon.

2 die, 1 in coma as gas leaks from pipe

YOKOHAMA — Two workers were killed and another lapsed into a coma when they inhaled gas that leaked from an old pipe they were trying to remove from beneath a sidewalk early Saturday, police said. Taichi Ikejima, 24, and Kinichiro Ohira, 37, died in the accident while the 52-year-old father of Taichi remains unconscious. Ikejima, his father and Ohira were working in a hole they had dug for the removal work. Six other workers were sickened only slightly because they were above the ground, officials of the Tsurumi Police Station said. The nine workers apparently began digging a 1-meter-square hole at about 9 p.m., Friday, before working on the old gas pipe in Yokohama’s Tsurumi-ku. They collapsed one after another at about 12:40 a.m. A security guard sleeping at a nearby factory told reporters that “shortly before 1 a.m., I was awoken by the gas leak.” According to Tokyo Gas Co., which operates the pipes in the area, gas leaked apparently when attachments to the old pipe came loose. (Mainichi Shimbun, Feb. 9, 2002)

Gas Line Rupture Kills 1 in Okla.

Fri Feb 8,11:00 AM ET

PERRY, Okla. – A worker testing digging equipment ruptured a large natural gas line early Friday, touching off an explosion that killed one person and forced nearby residents to evacuate, authorities said. It was unclear whether the person killed was the man testing equipment at the Charles Machine Works plant. There was no serious fire after the 22-inch gas line ruptured at 7:15 a.m. Gas could be heard rushing out of the line two hours later as emergency crews worked to shut it off. “It sounds like a jet engine,” said Noble County jailer John Vasek, who was nearly two miles away. “You can hear it blowing off pressure.” About 15 people residents were evacuated. The line is owned by a subsidiary of Oklahoma Gas and Electric Co., said Matt Skinner, spokesman for the Oklahoma Corporation Commission, the state agency that regulates utilities. The rupture occurred about two miles northwest of Perry, which is about 60 miles north of Oklahoma City.

Gas leak clears train station

From AAP, 02feb02

FIRE authorities say 30 people have been evacuated from Sydney’s Central Railway Station following a gas leak. Workers at the corner of Chalmers and Elizabeth streets caused the leak by accidentally cut a gas main about 4.30pm (AEDT). Fire crews and the Hazardous Materials unit joined gas company crews on the scene to contain the leak.

Cut gas line halts traffic on U.S. 19

A crew doing roadside excavation punctured a 6-inch natural gas line. Traffic was halted for nearly three hours. By RYAN DAVIS, Times Staff Writer, St. Petersburg Times, published January 30, 2002

NEW PORT RICHEY — An excavation crew punctured a gas line along U.S. 19 Tuesday afternoon, shutting down both directions of the road and making Gret Kocian wish she had never left home. “It’s hell,” the Elfers woman said while stopped in a car on Main Street. “I want to make a left and go back.” It turned the McCarthys’ 12-mile round trip from Bayonet Point to New Port Richey into a two-hour excursion. It gave physical therapist Todd Williams time to do paperwork in his car. It reduced Stutzman Electric workers to crawling along at 3 mph in an overheated van. It sent Genesis Elementary first-grader Alfred Jennett from his classroom to a nearby county building where teachers read him Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It halted a multiagency U.S. 19 speeding crackdown. Officials had been issuing tickets since 7 a.m. along the road. “No one’s speeding now,” Michele Baker, the county’s emergency management director, said during the shutdown. In fact, no vehicle was even moving for more than 2 miles to the north or south of Main Street, sheriff’s spokesman Kevin Doll said. Commuters said the lines were even longer than that. U.S. 19 was closed from Main Street north to Sunset Road and some drivers were diverted even farther north of the leak. A crew from S and S Directional Boring was digging along the east side of U.S. 19 at Green Key Road, which is just north of Main Street. The company was contracted to lay cables for Time Warner, police said. About 1:10 p.m., the crew found what it thought was a marked Clearwater gas line. The workers started to dig next to it. Turns out it was an abandoned line, and when they dug in, they punched a hole in a 6-inch diameter natural gas line, said S and S company spokesman Neil Schearouse. Within minutes, emergency officials closed the road. Rescue workers evacuated the Davis Center strip mall, Whole Works restaurant and Genesis School, which has 130 students. Other businesses and the New Port Richey Marine Institute, a school for troubled teenagers, voluntarily emptied. Rescue workers from the county and New Port Richey sprayed water off a nearby palm tree, creating a mist designed to force the gas toward the ground. “Gas is flammable and it’s an inhalation hazard as well,” Baker said. Traffic across west Pasco ground to a halt. According to state transportation statistics, 64,000 cars pass Main Street on U.S. 19 each day. Based on traffic counts, about 13,800 cars would pass through the intersection between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m., roughly the times it was closed. The three southbound lanes reopened about 3:40 p.m. and the three northbound lanes about 15 minutes later. “When you’ve got a river on one side and the Gulf of Mexico on the other, there’s nowhere to divert anyone,” said New Port Richey police Capt. Darryl Garman. Martin Hawley, who was trying to pick up his sick daughter at Genesis School, can attest to that. “I’ve been trying to get around for 45 minutes,” he said. “I’m a little concerned.” – Staff writer Matt Waite contributed to this report. Ryan Davis is the police reporter in Pasco County. He can be reached in west Pasco at 869-6245, or toll-free at 800-333-7505, ext. 6245. His e-mail address is [email protected] .

OSHA Proposes $148,500 in Penalties Against Olshan Foundation Repair Co. in Houston, Texas, for Safety and Health Violations

DALLAS — An Olshan Foundation Repair Co. employee in Houston was electrocuted during a tunnel excavation beneath a residence undergoing a foundation repair. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited the company with alleged safety and health violations and proposed penalties totaling $148,500. The OSHA Houston south area office conducted the investigation that began July 30, 2001, and cited Olshan with two willful, one serious and one other-than serious violation. Two willful violations were issued for failing to ensure that electrical equipment was free from hazards, such as missing ground prongs, exposed conductors and damaged insulation. The second willful violation was for failing to use proper ground fault circuit breakers or an assured equipment grounding program to automatically trip off any leakage of electrical current. A willful violation is defined as one that is committed with an intentional disregard of, or plain indifference to, the requirements of the Occupational Safety and Health Act and regulations. The serious violation was for failing to train employees in recognizing and avoiding hazardous conditions such as confined space, working in a conductive and damp location with defective electrical equipment. A serious violation is one in which there is a substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result and the employer knew or should have known of the hazard. The other-than-serious violation was failing to document injuries and illnesses on the OSHA 200 log. The law requires employers to log in any occupational illness, injury or fatality. The company did not log in the fatality. An other-than-serious violation is a hazardous condition that would probably not result in serious harm or injury to employees. Employers and employees with questions regarding workplace safety and health standards can call the nearest OSHA office. OSHA’s toll-free hotline may be used to report workplace accidents, fatalities, or situations posing imminent danger to workers. The number is 1-800-321-6742. The employer has 15 working days from receipt of the citations to either comply, request an informal conference with the OSHA area director, or contest the citations and proposed penalties before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

Pipeline ruptures near Little Swan Lake; residents evacuated

By Sarah Kenney – Staff Reporter

A ruptured propane pipeline in the southeast part of Warren County kept all emergency personnel on their toes, Tuesday. At approximately 12:09 p.m. Tuesday, the Warren County Sheriff’s Office received a 911 call reporting a ruptured gas pipeline. Warren County Sheriff’s Lieutenant Don Shamblin, who served as the on-scene incident commander, advised that an eight-inch propane pipeline had been ruptured by a field tiling crew approximately one mile south of Little Swan Lake, near the intersection of 10th Avenue and 140th Street in Warren County. A command post was established at the southeast corner of Little Swan Lake and approximately 15 residents, within a two-mile radius, were asked to evacuate to a safe area. A perimeter was established and the public was, and as of press time, are still requested to stay at least two miles away from the evacuated area. Valves were secured on the Mid-America propane pipeline at approximately 12:58 p.m., stopping the flow of propane. The evacuated area will remain secured until the pressure in the pipeline has stabilized and the area is safe for residents to return. Persons affected by the evacuation should listen to local radio stations for announcements concerning official information on when they may be allowed back into the perimeter. The Roseville, Avon, and Bushnell-Prairie City school districts were all notified of the rupture, due to changes in their transportation that affected the students who rode buses to the evacuated area. Mid-America Company representatives and repair crews were on the scene all night and will be throughout the day to evaluate and begin repairing the rupture as soon as possible. The Warren County Sheriff’s Department issued a press release last night stating that around 5:40 p.m., the Warren County Sheriff’s Office, working in cooperation with the Mid America Pipeline, decided to evacuate eight additional residents on the McDonough-Warren County Line. A three-mile stretch on the county line between 140th Street and 170th Street was evacuated by the Warren County McDonough County Sheriff’s Departments. Also, additional residents were later evacuated due to the change in weather. At approximately 9:45 a.m. this morning, the Warren County Sheriff’s Department issued another news release, stating that at 8:15 a.m. the residents on the Warren/McDonough County Line were allowed to return to their homes. The Sheriff’s Office, in cooperation with employees of Mid-America Pipeline, have closed the perimeter of the scene to approximately one square mile. It has been deemed it is no longer a danger area. However, the radius and county roads that will remain closed will be 140th Street from the McDonough/Warren County Line to 23rd Avenue and 10th Avenue, one mile west of 140th Street and two miles east of 140th Street. The employees of Mid-America are working as quickly as they can to get the matter under control and hope to open the remainder of the roads as soon as possible. The high concentration of LP gas that had already escaped the ruptured pipe on Tuesday, along with the incumbent weather, is hampering the Mid-America Pipeline employees from gaining access to the ruptured pipe. The Warren County Sheriff’s Department is asking for cooperation in this matter. They ask that you stay clear of the area until it can be deemed safe. “We apologize for any inconvenience,” stated Lt. Shamblin. Responding agencies besides Warren County included the Illinois State Police, McDonough County Sheriff’s Department, Roseville Fire Department, Avon Fire Department, Bushnell Fire Department, Roseville Ambulance, and Galesburg Area Hospital Ambulance Service. Additional news releases will follow as information is made available.

Gas leak interrupts traffic, lunch

By JAMIE JONES, Times Staff Writer, St. Petersburg Times, published January 25, 2002

BROOKSVILLE — Construction crews working on U.S. 41 Thursday afternoon ruptured a natural gas line, shutting down traffic for about a half hour and causing the evacuation of dozens of people working and eating lunch along the busy thoroughfare. Capt. Frank Phillips said the Brooksville Fire Department got a call at 12:25 p.m. saying crews widening U.S. 41 near Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard broke a 2-inch gas line while digging in a ditch. As the smell of gas filled the air, Brooksville firefighters evacuated everyone eating at a Checkers restaurant across the street and asked everyone in the nearby Golden Corral to stay inside, Phillips said. They instructed several restaurants to immediately turn off their stoves. Sheriff’s deputies shut down U.S. 41 between Martin Luther King Jr. and Candlelight boulevards for about a half hour. Hope Sanderson, manager of Checkers, said the restaurant’s gas was shut off for about 45 minutes during the lunch rush hour. She said the restaurant luckily had enough food for everyone in line when employees shut off the stoves. She said customers continued coming into the restaurant, but employees were forced to turn them away. She said she did not know how much money the restaurant lost. “Before too long, we were back in business,” Sanderson said. TECO workers arrived within 20 minutes to shut off the gas and were working to repair the line, Phillips said. Representatives of Smith & Co., which is responsible for the road widening project, did not return calls Thursday.

Gas leak in Lodi causes evacuation of 30 homes

By Nicholas Grudin News-Sentinel staff writer

A punctured natural gas line on Stockton Street forced the evacuation of about 30 homes Tuesday as leaking gas whistled through a hole in the plastic pipeline. Online Construction was installing lines for Pacific Bell in a 4-foot-deep trench at the intersection of Stockton Street and Century Boulevard when a tooth of a tractor’s shovel stuck into the side of a 4-inch plastic Pacific Gas and Electric Co. natural-gas pipeline, said Whitey Craft, a supervisor for Online Construction. The punctured pipeline released highly pressurized natural gas, Battalion Chief Jeff Larson of the Lodi Fire Department said. Firefighters and police responded to the gas leak at 9:20 a.m. and closed the stretch of Stockton Street between Almond and Idlewild drives while PG&E workers hurried to halt the leak. About 30 homes just east of that section of Stockton Street were evacuated as a light wind blew the gas into the neighborhood. Nearby businesses to the west were alerted to the situation, but the workers were not required to leave. No one was injured in the accident, although the construction workers were flustered by the initial loud burst of natural gas. We were in the ditch. After the initial boom we started running, Craft said, speaking in a shout over the loud rush of gas still screaming from the pipe. I’m still a little shaken up. Craft’s son, Duke, 21, who is also an employee of Online Construction, was in the trench along with his father when the pipe burst, and was equally shocked by the noisy rush of gas. These incidents are not uncommon, Larson said. This happens fairly frequently. Every few months, Larson said. This instance may have been more difficult to respond to, however, since the punctured gas line was fed from two different sources. To stop the leak, PG&E workers had to dig two separate holes, each around four feet deep. One was through concrete. This would not have been too pressing if the gas wasn’t creating such a mounting health hazard. There was a strong scent of natural gas in the neighborhood just east of Stockton Street and a spark near the leak could have ignited the gas, causing a large explosion, Larson said. The initial explosion would be followed by a high column of fire into the sky, Larson said. There was no spark, however, and crews had stopped the leak by 11:15 a.m. PG&E spokesman Jonathan Franks said that everything would be repaired by Tuesday evening. Reports vary as to whether or not the four inch gas pipeline that was punctured was marked or not.

Gas leak snarls traffic

By Trista Talton, Staff Writer, January 19, 2002

A ruptured gas line forced the closure of a busy, mile-long stretch of South College Road for nearly three hours Friday, stalling rush hour traffic and cluttering side streets. J and B Communications pierced the pipeline while boring under utility lines in the ground, said Wilmington Fire Capt. Freddie Powers Jr. The drillers’ job was to bury new communication lines. They didn’t locate the line properly, Capt. Powers said. Traffic had to be rerouted to side streets around the blocked-off section of South College between Oleander Drive and Shipyard Boulevard, a stretch normally throbbing with cars on a Friday afternoon. The line was struck about 3 p.m. in front of a BellSouth office near Hugh MacRae Park on South College, said Lt. Tim Smith of the Wilmington Fire Department. The leaks were clamped and the road reopened around 5:45 p.m. It’s a pretty good leak, Lt. Smith said . Some of the gas drifted into the BellSouth building, which was evacuated shortly after the line was ruptured. Students at Roland-Grise Middle School on Lake Avenue were getting out of school around the time the line was hit. Buses had to be rerouted to 41st Street, but the school schedule was not otherwise interrupted. Lt. Smith said the school was not endangered. Wilmington Police cars blocked entrances to the closed stretch of South College as officers directed traffic away from the area. Fire trucks and HAZMAT workers waited nearby. Meanwhile, crews with Progress Energy dug to reach the ruptured line, which divides into two, 2-inch lines. Crews planned to clamp both lines to stop the leak. Gas fumes permeated the wind blowing toward Shipyard Boulevard and seeped into storm drains and through cables into the BellSouth building. The building’s windows and doors were opened to let the fumes dissipate and fans were placed in the storm drains to push gas fumes out. Under a Wilmington city ordinance adopted in 1999, contractors draw a citation and automatic fine of $4,000 if they damage underground natural gas lines. J and B Communications was cited as a result of the incident, but has 10 days to file an appeal.

Punctured gas main forces evacuation

By Karen Rivedal, Tribune staff reporter

Published January 18, 2002, 2:06 PM CST

The Chicago Fire Department evacuated a city block this morning and was working with a natural gas utility crew to contain a gas leak caused by a construction crew near Jefferson and Taylor Streets on the Near West Side, officials said. The leak in the 24-inch main occurred at about 9:45 a.m., when a Commonwealth Edison crew working in the 900 block of South Jefferson Street partially sheared the medium-pressure line by accident, said fire department spokeswoman Molly Sullivan. Workers from Peoples Energy located the cutoff pipe to stop the flow of gas at about 12:30 p.m., said Peoples Energy spokeswoman Karyn Pettigrew. Crews expected to restore service by late afternoon, after repairs to a 2-inch tap into the main were completed. Meanwhile, fire crews were putting down chemical foam to contain the gas, Sullivan said, while an undetermined number of people have been evacuated from low-rise commercial buildings along one block of Jefferson, from Taylor to Polk Streets. The fire department had no reports of anyone injured or sickened by the break, but ambulances were standing by, Sullivan said. The Chicago Fire Academy, located just east of the leak, was not affected, nor was the University of Illinois at Chicago campus a few blocks west, she said. A CTA spokeswoman said train and bus service in the area also was not affected.

Backhoe ruptures gas line in front of judicial center

By: Kristi Jones-Headliner News, January 16, 2002

Construction work in front of the county’s new multi-million dollar judicial center damaged a two-inch steel gas pipe Jan. 10, causing natural gas to flow into the air for several hours that afternoon. The unidentified worker said he hit the T which goes up close to the ground, while digging with a backhoe, and pulled the cap off of the pipe. Though the leak looked hazardous, the scene was quickly controlled, Ozark Fire Chief Jake Archer said. “Because of the open air, there isn’t too much danger right now,” Archer said. “The only thing we could do to help the situation is to wet down the walls.” If the gas had ignited, the gas-permeated walls of the new jail could have burst into flames, Archer said. Presiding Commissioner Roy Matthews said the danger was minimal because natural gas is lighter than air and quickly rises. Still, the incident posed a risk to nearby workers. The pipe that was damaged carried a higher pressure than a residential pipeline, which pumps at 11 pounds of pressure, Ozark Code Enforcement Officer Al Gonzales said. The higher pressure caused more gas to leak at a faster rate. Missouri Gas Energy workers, Ozark firefighters and construction site workers combined their efforts to plug the gas leak by blocking the pipe up-stream from the leak. “In order to keep our men safe, we’re working farther down the line to plug up the gas leak because of the danger of the blowing gas,” MGE Area Supervisor Kyle Edwards said. The same workman who struck the gas line on Jan. 10 struck a water main the next morning. That caused water to pour out onto the streets of the square, firefighter Chris Heslip said.

UPDATE, Contractor fined for damaging phone lines

UNION-TRIBUNE, January 12, 2002

A fencing contractor who caused $625,000 damage to underground phone lines in Kearny Mesa when he failed to check on the location of utility lines was ordered yesterday to pay $12,320 in fines and court costs. Robert Flud of South Coast Fence Co. damaged the phone lines in March 1999 when he dug multiple holes for fence posts at a construction site on Kearny Villa Road, said Deputy District Attorney Tricia Pummill. Severing the phone lines knocked out telephone and computer service to several area businesses and damaged the Sheriff’s Department’s 911 emergency line, which remained operational. Flud, a licensed contractor since 1997, agreed to pay Pacific Bell $625,000 in a separate civil case as reimbursement for costs to repair the damage he caused, Pummill said. Contracting companies are required under a state “dig alert” law to notify officials at least two working days before beginning excavation to determine if underground utilities are in the area. “You can create so much damage by not paying attention to this,” Pummill said. “We have to make it a priority for people to pay attention. It is not worth it for people to start digging without knowing what’s underneath.” Flud’s attorney did not return calls seeking comment.

Buried worker lucky to be alive

Wednesday January 09 08:38 AM EST, By Tom O’Konowitz Daily Herald Staff Writer

A construction worker in South Elgin managed to walk away with only minor injuries Tuesday after a trench collapsed around him, completely burying him under mounds of clay and dirt. Brian K. Stillmunkes, 27, of Bristol, remained in the emergency room at Provena St. Joseph Hospital in Elgin Tuesday evening. It appeared Stillmunkes suffered cuts, bruises and possibly broken bones in the accident, but the exact extent of his injuries was not immediately known, according to the South Elgin paramedics who treated him at the scene. “He’s very fortunate to even survive something like this,” said Joe Cluchey, assistant chief of the South Elgin and Countryside Fire Protection District. Stillmunkes, who works for Yorkville-based S&K Excavating, was digging a trench for a new sewer line around 10:30 a.m. when the walls of the 10-foot-deep hole caved in on top of him, fire officials said. A new house is being built on the construction site at 841 Sunrise Drive in the Thornwood subdivision near Randall and McDonald roads on the village’s far west side. Scores of builders and contractors were working on the village’s newest street at the time of the collapse and rushed to help Stillmunkes. “He was buried over his head, but he had a hand up and was able to wave – his co-workers saw him and were able to start digging him out by hand,” Cluchey said. A team of about 18 rescue workers from the fire department and South Elgin public works department arrived at the scene minutes later and started to reinforce the walls of the trench with specialized plywood and hydraulic jacks to prevent a secondary collapse. According to South Elgin Fire Chief Louis Oine, secondary collapses are common in this type of rescue effort and often can cause more serious injuries than the initial cave-in. The rescue workers then used their hands and hand shovels to dig out Stillmunkes, who remained conscious and alert throughout the rescue effort. After about 45 minutes the pile of frozen clay was fully removed and Stillmunkes shocked rescuers by insisting that he walk out of the hole himself, with only some help from a firefighter and a police officer. The construction site was shut down after the industrial accident so officials from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration could begin their investigation, said South Elgin Deputy Police Chief Christopher Merritt. The site reopened to construction workers later in the day, but a spokesman for OSHA said it could be several days or weeks until the investigation is complete. According to police, the trench in which Stillmunkes was working did not have proper “shoring,” or special reinforcements, to stabilize the walls. Cluchey said any hole or trench that is more than 5-feet deep should have special supports before workers enter them.

Accident shuts down part of pipeline

A construction accident near Spotted Horse Saturday afternoon shut down a section of methane gas pipeline. A bulldozer snagged an 8-inch methane gas pipeline where Melgaard Construction is building a reservoir well for Devon Energy at a site about 2 miles north of Spotted Horse, said Campbell County Fire Department investigator Eric Acton. Emergency services workers had to shut down compressor stations above and below the damaged pipeline, where the accident happened about 2:40 p.m., and everything was under control by about 4:30 p.m., Acton said. No one was hurt, and no property was damaged except the pipeline, Acton said. “We’re glad to know no one was injured,” said Stacie McDonald, safety coordinator for Thunder Creek Gas Services, a firm partially owned by Devon. “We are doing a complete investigation, and we’ll get to the bottom of it.” Thunder Creek’s investigation into the accident is expected to begin today, McDonald said. — By The News-Record staff

Two Workers Freed From Trench In Avon

Two construction workers were rescued Wednesday evening after being trapped in a trench. The men became trapped up to their waists in mud and cold water while installing sewer pipes in a subdivision. A rescue crew worked for two hours before freeing the men. Both workers were treated for hypothermia, but were expected to recover.

Rescuers free man from trench

By PAT PANKRATZ, Herald Times Reporter

WHITELAW – A Whitelaw man was rescued Wednesday after a trench he was digging from a well to his new home collapsed. James Cigler, 35, was trapped for more than an hour after the trench he was digging caved in around him. Emergency personnel were called to 4202 Hempton Lake Road shortly after 11 a.m. Whitelaw firefighters arrived first and helped dig the dirt from around Cigler’s face in the 7-foot deep trench. The firefighters erected plywood supports, to prevent further collapse, prior to arrival of the Manitowoc Fire Department’s trench rescue team. The team further shored up the plywood support system by using air jacks, and pumped warm air into the trench with other specialized equipment. Valders ambulance personnel fed Cigler with warm fluids through an intravenous line. After rescuers were able to free the victim’s legs by digging down about 4 feet with small shovels, the trench rescue team secured a harness around him and lifted him out with a ladder truck apparatus. More than 20 people were involved in the rescue effort, including 11 from the trench rescue team. Herzog credited the quick work of the Whitelaw firefighters. By 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, Cigler was transported to Holy Family Memorial Medical Center, where he was later listed in stable condition.

Work crew ruptures gas main in Whitman

By Debbie Seele, Enterprise correspondent

WHITMAN — Displaced residents returned to their evacuated homes and Route 27 reopened in time for this morning’s commute after an excavator ruptured a gas pipe Monday afternoon, sending fumes as far away as Abington. No injuries were reported from the 1:45 p.m. incident at High and Temple streets. But 60 homes and businesses lost gas service, traffic became clogged when Route 27 closed and some school dismissals were delayed after the ruptured pipe sent a geyser of dirt and drifting gas fumes into the air. By this morning, four or five gas customers were still without service because utility crews were unable to get into the houses to turn pilot lights back on, said Whitman Fire Chief Timothy P. Travers. The DiLorenzo Co. of Everett was working for the utility company Keyspan at High and Temple streets, replacing existing 2-inch pipes with 6-inch plastic pipes, when workers ruptured the gas main. It took workers 3 1/2 hours to locate the shut-off valve to stop the leak. Temple Street is Route 27. Keyspan spokesman Mike Bruno said utility officials were investigating the circumstances surrounding the ruptured gas pipe. Travers said the work was an ongoing pipe-replacement project and the contractor had notified Dig Safe as state law requires for such excavation projects. Dig Safe, a quasi-state agency, works with contractors to avoid hitting utility lines during excavations. When the break occurred, Muffler Master at 470 Temple St. and an adjacent home at 462 Temple St. were evacuated. Windows in the basement of the Temple Street home were broken to ventilate a build up of gas fumes. As winds shifted, fumes from the leak were reported as far away as Ashland Street in Abington, and traffic was backed up on Route 18 north into Abington as commuters looked to find alternate routes home from work. Route 27 remained closed to traffic overnight while the pipe was repaired, and manholes on the south side of town were opened to ventilate gas fumes that had infiltrated the town’s sewerage system. The state road reopened in time for this morning’s rush hour. Ed Rivera was working in the garage at Muffler Master when he noticed the smell of gas. At first, he thought one of the gas tanks he uses for welding was leaking, until he saw workers running away from the gas leak in front of the business. “They were cutting a pipe or something and then they came running. They told me to stop working because there was a gas leak,” said Rivera, who was sent home early after the business was closed for the day. The timing of the break required rerouting of students being dismissed from Whitman Middle School, whose main entrance is on Corthell Avenue, a side street adjacent to the site of the gas leak. The middle school was ordered shut down at 2 p.m., and students were not allowed to leave the building until school officials made alternate plans for dismissal. Buses were rerouted through a back entrance to the school through Homeland Park and Hogg Memorial Drive, and an extra bus was provided to students who normally walk home from school along Route 27. Middle school student Justin Almeida, 13, said he had to walk the long way home due to the detour, but said most students were calm. “It wasn’t really scary, but some people were yelling. I was in the library when people said to go to the cafeteria to be dismissed,” said Almeida. School Superintendent John McEwan was at the middle school to oversee the dismissal plans. “It went pretty smooth. “We opened Lot 25 to Hogg Memorial Drive and it gave us an alternate way for parents and buses to get in,” said McEwan. McEwan said buses were delayed leaving the middle school, which caused subsequent busing delays in transporting students home from the Conley and Park Avenue schools, which have a later dismissal time. Keyspan crews worked for hours to locate the correct shut-off valve before stopping the leak, eventually having luck with the third valve closed. “It is a process of shutting down segments of the line and isolating the gas main. We had to shut down one valve at a time to see if it can shut down the gas leak. It takes a while,” said Bruno, of Keyspan. Department of Public Works employees began to open manhole covers on Route 27 up to Oakwood Avenue and adjacent side streets to ventilate gas that had built up in the sewer system. “There is a potential danger due to the build-up of gas in the sewer lines. There was no potential damage to homes, but there may be to the sewerage pumping stations,” said Assistant Superintendent Donnie Westhaver, who said the manholes would remain open until repairs to the gas lines were completed. At 3:40 p.m., Travers and Police Chief John Schnyer expanded the area closed to traffic due to a shift in the wind direction and delay in shutting off the gas. Whitman officials called in all off-duty police and department personnel. Plymouth County Sheriff Joseph McDonough provided a mobile command center and 20 men to control traffic on side streets. Lt. Tom Majenski from the state police’s Norwell barracks arrived on the scene with 10 troopers to provide perimeter traffic control along routes 18 and 27. The East Bridgewater Fire Department assisted at the scene, and the Hanson Fire Department provided coverage at Whitman’s station. “The biggest snag was getting the gas main shut down,” said Schnyer. “When the wind shifted to a northeasterly direction, Abington Fire Department had calls from residents on Ashland Street in Abington. It kept us on our toes.” The senior center and the high school were opened as evacuation sites. One couple stayed at the Days Inn in Rockland overnight.

UPDATE, Construction accident probe continues

A 50-year-old North East man was killed after a trench caved in at a Rising Sun-area dairy farm. Rescue workers found Norman Pyle McCann’s body around 11:20 p.m. Monday. He suffocated under 17 feet of soil, Maryland State Police said. The employees of M & M Paving Contractors of Port Deposit were installing a drainage pipe and manure storage pit at Long Green Farms off Crothers Road when the trench caved in. McCann was one of four construction workers involved in Monday afternoon’s accident. Donald Crabtree, 30, of North East was pulled from the collapsed trench by firefighters from Community Fire Company of Rising Sun, the first responders. He was transported to Christiana Hospital in Stanton, Del., where he was treated and released, police said. Two other workers escaped injury. Walter Long of Rising Sun, who declined to comment on the situation, managed to free himself from the dirt and clay before rescue workers arrived, police said. The co-owner of M & M Paving Contractors, Harvey McNatt, 35, of Port Deposit, was also there when the trench collapsed. Maryland Occupational Safety and Health (MOSH) is investigating the construction accident. Officials said about 132 firefighters and rescue workers assisted in the nine-and-a-half hour recovery effort. Rising Sun Fire Chief Karl Reichenbach said had the construction crew taken the proper safety precautions, this accident, like any other, might have been prevented. “The proper safety precautions in place might’ve prevented it, or at least the severity of it,” he said. Reichenbach said the volunteers worked in “total cooperation,” and no unforeseen problems arose during the recovery operation. “It went extremely well,” he said. “All the rescue teams were volunteers, with the exception of Baltimore County (which was on standby and wasn’t needed). We have a large list of resources and we tapped them very heavily last night.” It was also the first time the county’s command bus, Mobile 1, had ever been used for such a serious incident, Reichenbach said. The bus rolled right up to the scene and ran county dispatch operations from the farm. “It was marvelous,” he said.

Trench collapses in R.S. * Rescuers search for buried construction worker

By Michael White, Whig Staff Writer, December 11, 2001

RISING SUN – Rescue teams worked into the night Monday searching for a construction worker buried under 15 feet of collapsed clay and sand in the Rising Sun area. Around 2:20 p.m., the walls of a 15-foot deep, 2-foot wide trench collapsed on top of two workers at a site off Crothers Road. Firefighters pulled one man, Donald Crabtree, 30, of North East, from a waist-high pool of dirt at roughly 2:30 p.m. Maryland State Police transported him to Christiana Hospital in Stanton, Del., where he was treated for minor injuries. He was listed in good condition Monday night. Rising Sun Community Fire Company Chief Karl Reichenbach offered no speculation as to the status of the second victim – whose name was not released. At 10:30 p.m., the rescue efforts were still underway. Reichenbach said rescue workers were close to where the man is believed to be buried, with 10 or 12 workers inside the trench digging. Reichenbach explained the efforts were taking a long time because firefighters and rescue personnel “won’t give a life to save a life.” Four construction workers were working on the project at the time of the collapse, police said. Three were down in the trench and one was on top. Rescue personnel figured there was little room to breathe beneath the dirt, police said. Crews were pumping air into the dirt in an effort to give him breathing room, police said. Officials determined the trapped man did not have a cell phone or pager with him. Rescue workers have had no contact with him since the collapse. The Federal Aviation Administration grounded numerous news helicopters after rescue workers expressed concern that the choppers could cause ground vibrations, emergency officials said. The victim’s family and fellow construction workers were found crying at the scene. They drank hot chocolate and tried to keep warm while observing the recovery operation from about 60 yards away. Collapse teams from both Claymont, Del., and Aberdeen were put in charge of the recovery operation. Fire companies from Cecil, Harford, Baltimore, Chester, Pa., Lancaster, Pa., and New Castle, Del., counties responded to the call.

Office complex evacuated after gas pipe broken

CAPE COD TIMES

FALMOUTH – A gas leak forced the evacuation of several buildings yesterday afternoon in the Homeport office complex on Gifford Street.No injuries were reported from the incident. Just after 1 p.m., Falmouth Fire and Rescue responded to a report of a gas leak in the area of 332 Gifford St. Capt. Michael White said a construction crew doing excavation and grading in the area ruptured a high- pressure gas line. When the gas company, Keyspan Energy, had difficulty finding a shut-off valve, about five or six buildings in the Homeport complex were evacuated for more than an hour, White said. Employees in the complex encountered a strong smell of gas after the leak occurred, but fire officials said no one became sick from the fumes. It was not known how many people were evacuated. Although the evacuees were evacuated away from the scene, many could hear a roaring sound from the burst gas pipes. Utility officials ask that people who plan to excavate to call the DIGSAFE number at 888-344-7233 to find out if there are any utility lines in the area.

Gas Leak Forces Evacuations

A gas line ruptured Wednesday, forcing businesses and a condominium complex to evacuate, Houston authorities said. Houston Fire Department officials told News2Houston that a sub-contractor, who was trying to install fiber-optic lines, hit a 4-inch gas main, sending natural gas spewing from underneath the streets. Natural gas mixed with the right amount of air can cause an explosion, fire officials said. “Hazmat has taken some air samples,” HFD district Chief Jack Williams said. “They checked the manhole up there (and) there’s 100 percent gas fumes inside the manhole.” Authorities said that most of the 100 people being evacuated are from the Westwood Garden Condominiums, located at 9350 Country Creek Drive. Fire crews asked Houston METRO buses and the Houston Red Cross to help shelter the evacuees. Reliant Entex workers shut down the gas line, so that repairs could be made.

Worker Trapped In Trench Presumed Dead

A man who tried to rescue his co-worker, who slipped into a water-filled trench at an Irwindale quarry Friday morning, is presumed dead. According to news wire reports, two men were working on a conveyor belt at the Vulcan Quarry, located east of the 605 Freeway, when the earth reportedly began to give way, and one of the men slid down a steep embankment and into a body of murky water. The second man, who was originally reported as having escaped any danger, jumped toward his co-worker to help him out, but instead slid into the water and drowned as the first man eventually pulled himself to safety. Firefighters and sheriff’s divers were called to the scene to search the murky waters of the quarry, according to television reports. But after about two hours, the mission shifted from rescue to recovery.

Gas leak causes THS evacuation

November 08, 2001

Tullahoma High School students were briefly evacuated to the Wilkins Stadium late Thursday morning because of a gas leak. Tullahoma Fire Chief C.B. Watkins said Tullahoma Utilities Board employees were repairing a water leak at nearby Advance Auto Parts on North Jackson Street and inadvertently cut into a gas line. He said as a safety precaution, a decision was made to evacuate the high school. “Nobody was hurt, and everybody was safe,” he said. “That’s the main thing.” Watkins said students were allowed back into the high school about 10 minutes after they were directed to evacuate. He said traffic on Jackson Street was briefly detoured through the Regions Bank parking lot to Atlantic Street until the gas leak was repaired.

Man dies at Waterford building site

online.ie 02 Nov 2001

A man has died in an industrial accident in Waterford. The incident happened this morning in a field in Kilbarry on the outskirts of Waterford City. The man was laying water and sewerage pipes in an eight feet deep trench when part of a digger fell on him. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The gardai have called in Health and Safety Officers to carry out checks of the area.

Water firm workers escape uninjured

Vada Mossavat, Daily Mail staff , Thursday October 25, 2001; 12:40 PM

Several West Virginia-American Water Co. workers escaped injury this morning in the Alum Creek area when a small fire and explosion erupted from a break in a main gas line. Lou Aiello, operations supervisor for the water company, said Bobby Love and Mike Ferrell were digging to install a water meter for a new house on Daley Branch Road in the Alum Creek area about 10 a.m. today. “We were just digging and it blew,” said Ferrell, who said this is the first time he had seen anything like it in his 22 years at the water company. Aiello said he thinks a backhoe hit a rock, causing a spark that may have ignited the gas coming from the plastic line. Ferrell said he was standing over the hole when the gas line broke. “All I remember was the heat. It was like a big cloud,” he said, making a big circle with his arms to show how it had surrounded him. “Then I turned around and was running,” Ferrell said. “Lord, I never want to go through that again.” Ferrell, the foreman, said he had called gas company officials and told them they planned to dig in the area. When he came to dig this morning, he said there were no flags indicating that there were gas lines in the area. So, he said, he assumed there were no gas lines there. Firefighters from South Charleston and Alum Creek responded. At first, they let the fire burn. Acting as a pilot light, it kept the gas from just leaking into the air. But when firefighters tried to control the fire so they could move the backhoe away from the flames, they accidentally extinguished the fire. Tensions were high as emergency personnel waited for the gas company to arrive and shut off the gas that was leaking into the air. Representatives from the gas company were not immediately available for comment.

Gas leak in Ardsley Park evacuates schools, neighbors

A private construction crew hit gas line near Savannah Arts Academy and Blessed Sacrament School.

By Anne Hart , Savannah Morning News

Authorities evacuated Ardsley Park residents and hundreds of schoolchildren Wednesday morning after construction workers hit a gas line. No one was injured. About 750 students and staff at Savannah Arts Academy and some 360 more at Blessed Sacrament School left after the line started leaking. Academy students were expected to return today. Blessed Sacrament reopened by noon. A private construction crew boring a hole under the street at 49th Street and Atlantic Avenue cut a gas line, Savannah firefighters said. The gas came up through a storm drain. “You could smell it instantly,” Clanton said. Neighbors in a four-block area leak between Paulsen and Reynolds and Washington and 50th streets were evacuated for nearly four hours. Authorities went door-to-door notifying neighbors. Elizabeth Stadt said she was a little alarmed when she heard the loud knock at the door. But she said the firefighters were calm and reassuring. She quickly got her dog, Sadie, and walked to a park. About two hours later, she said she and the dog were ready to go home, but had to wait until about 12:30 p.m. After evacuating, students and staff gathered in Daffin Park. “It went kind of like a normal fire drill,” said Blessed Sacrament chaplain the Rev. Tim McKeown. The academy students were taken by bus to Savannah High School gym, where they had lunch and started an optional early dismissal. Buses took them home as usual.

OSHA hits O’Hara Construction with additional violations after fatal trench collapse

By Denise Allabaugh, Citizens’ Voice Staff Writer, October 24, 2001

A construction company hit with $96,000 in fines after a fatal trench collapse in Wilkes-Barre recently was slapped with additional citations and proposed fines from Occupational Safety and Health Administration. James T. O’Hara Construction Co. of Moscow was charged with several violations that OSHA labeled “serious” in a copy of the recent citations OSHA filed. OSHA filed these citations following an inspection of the site at Blackman and New Frederick streets in Wilkes-Barre from Sept. 12 to Sept. 19. A report from OSHA’s Wilkes-Barre office charged that O’Hara Construction used a Fiat-Allis loader, which was not equipped with a reverse signal alarm distinguishable from the surrounding noise level. Proposed penalty for this citation is $900. OSHA filed three more citations that must be corrected by Nov. 15. The first states that O’Hara Construction did not install a trench shield in a manner to restrict lateral or other hazardous movement of the shield in the event of sudden lateral loads. The proposed penalty for this citation is $1,125. The second states that trench box was used with procedures that deviated from the specifications, recommendations and limitations issued or made by the manufacturer. The third, a repeat violation, stated a stairway, ladder, ramp or other safe means of escape was not provided so as to require no more than 25 feet of lateral travel for employees. The proposed penalty is $2,400. OSHA also cited O’Hara Construction for several violations, which were corrected during an inspection. One citation charged O’Hara Construction did not provide adequate protection to protect employees from loose rock or soil that could pose a hazard by falling or rolling from an excavation face. The second cited O’Hara Construction for permitting an employee to enter an excavation to a level more than 2 feet below the lowest portion of the trench shield.

Trench collapses

LEE’S SUMMIT, Mo. (AP) — A Lee’s Summit firefighter working an off-duty job for an excavation company was killed when a trench collapsed Monday. It took nearly four hours to free Roger Moorhead, 49, who was dead at the scene.

UPDATE, Two firms cited in fatal trench cave-in

BY HANNAH ALLAM Pioneer Press

Two Northfield construction firms were each levied a $25,000 fine for failing to protect a plumber who was killed in a July trenching accident, a Minnesota Occupational Safety and Health Administration spokesman said Thursday. Richard P. James, 55, and his two adult sons were digging to install sewer lines for a new housing development in the 1400 block of Blue Flag Court in Northfield when the trench collapsed, burying him. Both Steve Schmidt Construction-general contractor for the site-and Bakken Construction- which dug the trench -were cited for improper sloping and design problems that apparently led to the cave-in, according to OSHA documents. The Schmidt firm already has contested the ruling; Bakken has until Monday to contest. Under a recently revised statute, construction companies whose OSHA violations caused or contributed to an employee’s death will pay a minimum of $50,000 for willful or repeated citations, and at least $25,000 if the errors were not willful or repeated. OSHA found that the violations in this case were not willful or repeated. James’ death is an example of the dangers of trenching, said OSHA spokesman James Honerman. The worker’s sons, aided by other construction workers, used a backhoe to remove the soil after the trench’s collapse. By the time Northfield police arrived, the men were digging James out with their hands. He was later pronounced dead at Northfield Hospital. “Proper procedures for safely working on a trench were not followed,” Honerman said. “Trenching is a very high-hazard industry.” Last year, OSHA handled 63 violations of trenching standards — the second most frequent construction citation, Honerman said.

Construction accidents endanger downtown Cherokee businesses

Times Staff Report, October 18, 2001

CHEROKEE-Cherokee firefighters and Alliant Energy workers averted yet another potential disaster Tuesday in downtown Cherokee. Firefighters were summoned to the alley behind the Lewis Hotel for a small fire which produced a large amount of smoke in the basement area. “We got the call at 1:10 p.m. and we had a lot of smoke visible in the basement,” said Fire Chief Jack Olson. “We looked in the building and found nothing. It gave us the impression it was on the inside when it was on the outside.” In searching the alley, the firefighters found that workers tearing up concrete in the alley had accidentally set an old doorframe afire with cutting torches. The doorframe had been uncovered by the work and the workers had been cutting away some metal in order to better fill the void. The fire caused quite a commotion for residents in the Lewis Hotel and firefighters remained on scene 30-45 minutes to make sure the fire was fully extinguished. Firefighters were promptly recalled at 4:03 p.m. for a gas leak behind the White Rose. During the course of their work, employees of Deer Valley Land Improvement accidentally snagged a gas meter line with a backhoe. The leak was large enough to allow residents on Maple Street to hear the whistling. “They pulled it pretty good,” Olson said of the leak. “Basically we had enough of the pipe sticking out that we could pinch it off.” In shutting off the leak, all that stood between downtown Cherokee and disaster was a vice grip. Some buildings were evacuated, but only long enough to ventilate them and get rid of the fumes, Olson noted. The perimeter extended from just near Letsche’s Bike Shop west to Fourth Street and south to Maple Street. This was the sixth gas leak suffered in downtown Cherokee since work on the alleys started in early summer. After the first several leaks, Alliant Energy workers were sent to supervise the digging.

Man pulled from trench after four-hour ordeal

JASON MCKEE, Mercury Staff Writer, October 12, 2001

COLEBROOKDALE — Rescue crews worked frantically Thursday afternoon to free a man who had fallen nearly 20 feet into a trench and had become buried up to his chest in loose gravel, according to emergency personnel at the scene. William Bradford, 28, of Conshohocken, had been working for Eastern Diversified Services, excavating a septic system for a rural residence along Powder Mill Hollow Road, emergency personnel said. While a backhoe was excavating the trench, Bradford was working at the surface when the ground gave way, sending him on an 18-foot drop and burying him up to his chest in gravel that continued to spill in from above. Rescue crews arrived at 61 Powder Mill Hollow Road at 12:15 p.m., minutes after the accident, and worked quickly to save Bradford, who was, at the time, quickly working to save himself. “He was extremely helpful,” said Boyertown Friendship Fire Co. volunteer Rick Becker. “He was digging out the front of his legs with a small garden shovel while we were digging out the back.” A lot of time is usually spent calming the victim in rescue attempts, but Becker said there was no need to calm Bradford. “He’s a fire chief at Lincoln Fire Co. in Conshohocken,” Becker said. “He definitely made it easier. We would have been here another hour or two without him helping.” Bradford suffered only minor injuries in the accident, possibly a hyperextended knee, according to an emergency medical technician at the scene. He was pulled from the hole at about 4:15 p.m., four hours after the rescue efforts began, and flown to Lehigh Valley Hospital Center where he was in satisfactory condition Thursday night, according to hospital officials. The rescue was difficult because each bucketful of dirt and gravel that could be lifted out of the hole was countered by about the same amount of gravel falling back into the hole, rescuers said. Adding to the problems was a 14-foot deep stone wall, part of the foundation of the residence, that was putting constant pressure on the trench wall, rescuers said. “All this stone was pushing down right where he was,” Becker said. Initial rescue efforts focused on “rapid shoring” around the victim, using scrap wood and anything else available to build a makeshift retaining wall to prevent the trench wall from collapsing and completely burying Bradford, Becker said. Dozens of rescue trucks, medics and about 100 firefighters assisted at the scene. It took a string of men heaving on a pulleyed rope to bring Bradford back to the surface. It was a group effort, according to Becker. “It’s not something we do every day,” he said. “And all these people coming out from all over; it’s really a community effort.”

Workers accidentally hit gas line

More than 500 people were evacuated from Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada on Wednesday morning after a construction crew accidentally struck a gas line. Catholic Charities’ St. Vincent Plaza — on Main Street between Owens and Washington avenues — has been under construction to expand shelter space for the valley’s homeless people. Tony Verdin, field superintendent for TBA Construction, said crew members had been digging the trench for a 4-inch water line when they struck and ruptured a 2-inch gas line.  Verdin said the gas company had not properly marked the location of underground gas lines before allowing the crew to dig.  “It was basically their oversight,” Verdin said. “The whole site had to be evacuated until the line was pinched.”  Roger Buehrer, spokesman for Southwest Gas, said the incident is under investigation. “There are two gas lines in the area and it appears that one was marked and another was not,” Buehrer said. “Now, we’re looking to see just what happened.” Buehrer said the line ruptured about 7:30 a.m. and the gas company was able to shut gas flow to the line by 8:22 a.m. The 556 people who had been evacuated returned to the building two minutes later, he said. No fire erupted from the gas leak and nothing else on site was damaged, he said.  Catholic Charities spokeswoman Sharon Mann said no one was injured in the incident.

UPDATE, Trencher-accident victim remains serious

A Billings man remains in serious condition at St. Vincent Healthcare after receiving injuries Tuesday in a construction accident. Mark Anderson, 44, suffered serious cuts to both legs and left forearm and lost his left thumb when he apparently fell into the blades of a trench-digging machine. Anderson was employed for Huppert Bros. Construction of Billings working on a new golf course on Larimer Lane near Shepherd when the accident occurred.

Natural gas leak closes streets

By Alex Branch, The Wichita Eagle

A broken gas line closed traffic on Central Avenue for several hours Wednesday afternoon and disrupted businesses near Hillside Avenue. Contract workers with Kansas Gas Service apparently struck the line about 1 p.m. while laying a new gas distribution line along the south side of Central, said Tim Richards, a company spokesman. The punctured line belongs to Peoples Natural Gas. Richards said workers detected gas seeping from nearby manholes and a crack in the pavement. Police blocked traffic from Hillside to Clifton Avenue, and one block north and south of that area, fire crews said. No businesses were evacuated. But some businesses were disturbed. A dentist on the eighth floor of the Wesley Medical Tower had to cancel afternoon appointments because elderly patients couldn’t find a way into the complex. Several employees had trouble getting back to work after lunch. “I just hope they take care of this so I can get out of here when I get off work,” said Mary Ellen Lynch, who works for Progressive Home and Health Care. Workers opened manhole covers and storm drain grates to allow the gas to seep out. By 3 p.m., they managed to shut off the gas line and began working on repairs. Westbound lanes of Central were reopened by 4 p.m. Eastbound lanes remained closed Wednesday night and were not expected to reopen until this morning.

Airport gas leak forces evacuation

BY WANDA J. DeMARZO

A ruptured gas line forced the evacuation of more than 600 people for nearly two hours Friday morning from a terminal at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.  The trouble began at 10:15 a.m. when a construction crew cut a two-inch natural gas line in an airliner taxiway expansion project area behind Terminal 1, where Continental Airlines is the main carrier. “The evacuation was orderly. No problems,” airport spokesman Steve Belleme said. “And the good thing was that the curbs were packed with people, which means we have a lot more people flying. Good thing to see,” he said.

More than 20 firefighters and members of the county’s hazardous materials team secured the area around the gas leak. After plugging the cracked pipe, fire-rescue crews took gas readings in the terminal before allowing anyone back inside. Belleme said incoming flights were diverted to other terminals during the evacuation.

Worker Pulled From Ditch In Sherman Oaks

A construction worker, who was rescued after falling into a trench near Sherman Oaks Saturday, is recovering in the hospital. The 25-year-old, who is said to be in good condition, was buried up to his neck in dirt for about two hours, CBS2 News reported. He was extricated by Los Angeles Fire Department crews shortly after 10 a.m., according to a local news wire. The television station said that the worker is part of a crew that has been building new homes in the area.

Trench Cave-In Kills Washington County Man

A 21-year-old man was killed Sunday night when a trench that he was working in caved in. Justin Davis of Washington County died after the cave-in in Bethlehem Township. Davis was doing work on sewage pipes on Lawrence Avenue when the trench caved in.

Trench collapse kills three boys

ASSOCIATED PRESS, September 17, 2001

RIO LINDA – Three young Rio Linda boys died Sunday evening when a construction trench collapsed and covered them in a dirt and asphalt. The boys – 8, 9 and 12 years old – were playing in the 8-foot-deep ditch with a fourth child when one of them tugged a tree root, unleashing a wall of dirt, said Capt. Patrick Ellis of the Sacramento County Fire Department. The names of the victims were being withheld pending notification of their families, though some of the parents were on the scene, neighbors said. One of the four boys playing in the ditch, the only survivor, was taken to Kaiser Permanente Medical Facilities with minor injuries. Ellis said the construction site is a Pacific Gas and Electric Co. project. Neighbors said work began Sept. 4. A PG&E spokesperson said the company was unable to provide information late Sunday.

Cut gas line creates headaches

Portion of Lee Avenue closed during incident

By SUE THACKERAY, Herald Staff Writer

SANFORD – A cut gas line Friday afternoon on Lee Avenue caused major headaches for anyone trying to drive through the area. Lee Avenue from Juno Street to Wilson Road, including Cameron Drive, was shut down for about 45 minutes after a utility contractor laying telephone cable struck a Public Service Gas line, said Sanford Fire Chief Wayne Barber. None of the buildings in the area had to be evacuated, but employees at Gaines Motor Lines Inc. were not allowed to move any of the vehicles in the yard and a neighboring irrigation business was inspected by firefighters to make sure its normal activities would not cause the airborne gas to ignite. Since the incident occurred just after 3 p.m. and fire crews were on the scene until just before 5 p.m., the mishap caused major headaches for some Static Control employees trying to get home from work.

UPDATE, Survivor of cave-in stood watching as dirt poured in

By Dan Wilson, For the Press-Gazette

A rural Waupaca man considers himself lucky to be alive after a trench collapsed around him Wednesday. It all happened so quick, all I could do was watch it, said Douglas Fletcher, 47, N4253 E. Ware Road. Fletcher, a hobby farmer who works full time at the Waupaca Foundry, was burying a water line for his house when the accident happened.  I had a trench about 5 to 6 feet deep and about 2 feet wide I had dug with a backhoe,  he said. The trench was more than 200 feet in length. However, the soil in the area is sandy and can be unstable. I was standing up and I was just about to jump out of the trench when it caved in. It went right up to my armpits. It fell in fairly quickly. It just freezes you in place and you can’t even move.  Firefighters and highway workers dug Fletcher free after he became trapped about 2:30 p.m. He suffered no major injuries. Fletcher said he felt confident the soil would not bury him completely, given the depth of the trench. He was able to breath. Fletcher said his three children were nearby and they called 911. Rescue workers were on the scene quickly. I told them to use the backhoe but they used tools instead, he said. Firefighters feared that using the backhoe might cause a further collapse. The procedure took about 45 minutes. While they were digging, Fletcher was being given fluids intravenously to keep him hydrated, and he wore an oxygen mask. After he was checked out at the hospital, he was sent home. I just have some sores and bruises, Fletcher said.

Gas spills when backhoe gashes pipeline at airport; LEAK: Temporary repair limits fuel loss to 50 to 100 gallons.

By Rachel D’oro, The Associated Press, Published: September 8, 2001

Gasoline leaked out of a Tesoro fuel pipe Friday at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport after a backhoe struck the underground line while digging a trench. The 8 a.m. accident left a 1-inch gash in the 10-inch line, according to investigators with the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation. Tesoro officials estimated the spill at 50 to 100 gallons. Company spokesman Ron Noel said workers clamped a temporary sleeve on the damaged pipe section around 11:30 a.m., plugging the leak. Tesoro also began the cleanup work, which will include removing contaminated soil. A high-pressure replacement sleeve has been ordered, Noel said. It will be welded on the line, which transfers gasoline, jet fuel and diesel fuel from Tesoro’s Nikiski refinery to the airport and the Port of Anchorage. At the time of the accident, the fuel was being moved to the Port of Anchorage, said DEC investigator Bob Petit. The spill occurred between the airport’s north/south runway and a taxiway at the north end of the airport. Petit said the gasoline pooled in the excavated section near the pipeline. “I could see the fuel shooting out, but it wasn’t a huge stream,” Petit said. Project officials said it’s unclear why the work area wasn’t marked to indicate the presence of the pipe, which is two feet below ground. Dave Berg, the field project engineer, said the project contractor had reviewed underground utility locations. Berg said the oversight is being investigated. The backhoe driver was digging a trench for an electrical duct bank. Berg said the work is part of a federally funded project by the state Department of Transportation for taxiway improvements. Friday’s spill is the second involving the pipeline in less than two months. A leak was discovered July 31 about 14 pipeline miles from the refinery inside Captain Cook State Recreation Area. The pipeline was shut down for four days while workers found the problem and welded a sleeve over three pinhole leaks discovered at a weld. Tesoro officials said cleanup workers collected 35,000 gallons of contaminated water, recovering 500 gallons of fuel from it. Workers brought 120 cubic yards of contaminated soil from the spill site to the refinery.

Man caught in collapsed ditch is rescued

By Jim Kirksey , Denver Post Staff Writer

Thursday, September 06, 2001 – Rescue teams freed a man buried up to his waist Wednesday night in a trench that collapsed at Front Range Airport near Watkins, officials said. The man, whose name was not released, was stuck in the soft dirt for more than three hours, as rescuers worked to shore up the ditch before digging him out by hand, said Mike Bek of the Bennett Fire and Rescue Department. The victim was in stable condition and talking to his rescuers. He complained of knee and back pain, officials said. “The patient is breathing on his own and having no problems, just stuck,” Bridgette Cumley, a spokeswoman for the Bennett fire department, said earlier in the night. Workers were digging a trench with a piece of heavy equipment when the victim saw something in the ditch. He jumped down in the ditch to see what it was, and the trench walls caved in almost immediately, Bek said. He said the trench was being dug for water and sewer lines for new hangars at the airport. Rescue teams received the call about 8 p.m. and found the man trying to dig himself out. Crews began shoring up the trench, which was 8 to 10 feet deep.

TRENCH RESCUE

DAVE SOMMERS, Staff Writer

It took rescue personnel more than an hour to rescue the worker from the 15-foot-deep trench. Rescue workers spent over an hour freeing a construction worker who was pinned under a 1,500-pound drill at the bottom of a 15-foot-deep trench in Bristol Township yesterday. Randy Hebalo, 45, of Birdsboro, Pa.,was flown to Hanneman Hospital in Philadelphia around noontime after being rescued from the bottom of a ditch near Riverside Industrial Park off Radcliffe Street, said officials. Officials said Hebalo was drilling a ditch for a new water main for Philadelphia Suburban Water Company when the auger drilling machine he was usingstruck something extremely hard and twisted uncontrollably. Hebalo, who was at the bottom of a deep trench, was trapped under the heavy equipment in the mud for more than 60 minutes as co-workers and rescue units determined the best way to hoist him out, co-workers said. Eventually, the Edgely Fire Company along with colleagues maneuvered a backhoe above the trench which enabled them to attach cables to the heavy drill bit and lift it out. “We stabilized the walls of the hole, got oxygen down to him, and then worked to get him out,” said Edgely Fire Company Chief Jim Mulholland after the rescue was complete. Helabo was flown to Hanneman Hospital in Philadelphia where he was reported in stable condition last night. Helabo is a employed by the Missouri Valley Boring company, a subcontractor for Chaddick Construction Company, in Birdsboro, Pa., said officials. The company is installing a water main for the Philadelphia Suburban Water Company from Radcliffe Street to the Riverside Industrial Complex near Tullytown.

Worker Hits Electrical Cable; Escapes Injury

A construction worker at North Scott High School miraculously escaped injury after the equipment he was operating struck a buried 12,470-volt electrical cable last Wednesday.  “I’m sure glad nobody got hurt or killed. It could have gone that way, easily,” Eldridge Utility general manager Ron McGill said of the accident, which occurred about 10:20 a.m. on Aug. 29. According to McGill, a worker for Davenport-based Scott County Fence Co. was digging fence postholes in an area on the west side of the high school when the auger of the Skidster machine he was operating hit the power line. Luckily, the line has a built-in safety feature which no doubt saved the operator’s life. “There’s a band of wires around the outside of the cable. When it’s cut, it pushes the band into the main cable and it shorts it out,” explained Tom Rudd, owner of Scott County Fence. “It worked. That’s all I know about it.” “It’s supposed to short out right at the wire, which it did, thank God,” noted McGill. The cut line caused a power outage that forced officials to dismiss school early. “It blew two mainline fuses. We had probably about a fourth of the town out for about an hour” – including Eldridge City Hall, he said. “We did some switching and isolating and got everything back on line.” Power to the high school and adjacent Ed White Elementary School was restored just before 4 p.m., McGill said. The general manager attributed the accident to an equipment failure. He said his employees had marked the location of lines in the area, but they were evidently relying on some faulty readings. “We marked it where our locating equipment showed (the line) to be. But that wasn’t exactly where it was. Our locating equipment was off,” McGill said. “They (Scott County Fence workers) weren’t at fault. I want to make that clear.” Rudd, who declined to name the employee involved, said cable cuts are just a hazard of the job. “We were almost 30 inches away from that (locator) mark when we hit the cable. But these things happen. It’s happened before,” said Rudd, whose workers were installing fencing for a detention pond when the cut occurred. He speculated that another unidentified cable that was in the same location – and also was cut – may have somehow affected the readings.

UPDATE, Workers ignored safety warnings, report confirms

2001-08-30, By Bob Doucette, Staff Writer

A final report released Wednesday by the state Labor Department confirms that two Muldrow city workers killed in a sewer trench cave-in ignored warnings that could have saved their lives.  The report showed that the bodies of Dwight Rhodes and Larry Matthews were underground for about an hour before being found. Private contractor Ronnie Vest, who was working with the city, escaped the cave- in with minor injuries. Labor officials initially said that Rhodes and Matthews were working outside a protective trench box that is designed to prevent injuries from cave-ins. Vest was in the box when the accident occurred. A Muldrow police report, which was included in the Labor Department’s findings, showed that the workers were told by supervisor Joe Shamblin to stay inside the box. “He repeatedly told the men to stay in the box,” the report stated. “Joe said he could not keep the men in the box. Joe told me the men at the scene complained to him that by using the box, the work was going too slowly and they (would) rather just dispense with the safety box and work without it.” Shamblin told the workers again to work inside the box. Moments later, the trench started to collapse. “About that time, he (Shamblin) noticed the dirt began to shift and slip,” the report said. “He said he also noticed that Dwight and Larry had walked away from the safety box. He screamed for them to run to the box.” Vest dove for the box, but the other men went the opposite direction — where the cave-in was at its worst. “Joe advised that if the two men had joined Mr. Vest, they would in all probability survived the mishap,” the report said. After 30 minutes of digging, rescue crews found their shovels. A baseball cap was later recovered. But it was nearly an hour before the bodies were removed. Both men died from suffocation, the report said.

Sapphire-mine collapse kills 1, injures student

By the Associated Press

PHILIPSBURG – An Idaho man was killed and a young female employee was injured Wednesday when a portion of the open-pit Gem Mountain Sapphire Mine collapsed, officials said. The injured woman, a University of Montana student from Philipsburg, was in serious condition at a Missoula hospital. The accident occurred about 20 miles from Philipsburg, along the Skalkaho Highway, about 3 p.m. Granite County officials said witnesses reported a group of six people were digging at a remote location when the cave-in occurred. The 51-year-old man died at the scene. The woman was dug out of the gravel and airlifted to Missoula in a helicopter. “They were digging when the ground above them gave away,” said Granite County Sheriff Steve Immenschuh. “It just kind of cracked off.” Names were not available.

UPDATE, Accident death toll rises to three

By John Milburn, Associated Press Writer, Wednesday, August 29, 2001

Topeka — Authorities continue to investigate a construction accident that claimed the lives of three workers in a sewer connection. Autopsies were being performed Tuesday on the victims, who were employees of Emerson Construction and died while checking a new sewer line for leaks in a new subdivision in southwest Topeka. The three workers were pulled Monday afternoon from a 23-foot-deep manhole. Authorities have identified the victims as Norman Emerson, 64, of Tecumseh; Lawrence Saloga, 53, of Pratt; and Brian Phelps, 22, of Topeka.  Emerson had been with the company since he founded the business nearly 40 years ago with his brother, Harley, said Todd Emerson, the victim’s nephew. “We honestly don’t know what happened entirely,” Todd Emerson said. “Until they can find something wrong, we do not know.”  He said the deaths have hit the company hard. Saloga had worked for the company for about nine years, while Phelps had for a shorter time. “We’re all family,” Todd Emerson said. The company employs about 35 people. Fire Battalion Chief Greg Bailey said officials have shied away from saying what caused the deaths, adding that anything without the autopsy results “is purely speculative.” He said the autopsies on the victims were completed Tuesday and results will be released later in the week. Emerson was confirmed dead at the scene, and the other two were taken to hospitals, where they later died, Bailey said. Sharon Mandel, chief medical examiner for Shawnee County, said it will be several weeks before additional toxicology tests of blood and other tissue are complete. The men were discovered in the concrete-lined manhole by a co-workers, who called 911 from the housing subdivision around 3 p.m. Bailey said the first man was in the manhole for about 30 minutes before he was pulled out by rescuers. Nearly two dozen rescuers responded to the scene, an undeveloped area near the city limits which was being prepared for construction of roads and new homes. The three for were vacuum testing a manhole that joined several sewer lines in the subdivision. Emerson Construction said it likely would have a news conference to discuss the accident, although the time and place has not been determined. Officials with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration continue to investigate the accident. Todd Emerson said the company is working with the agency.

Gas leak forces evacuation
By Aeron Marcott, Of the News Herald

A ruptured natural gas main at Nelson-Jameson Inc. caused evacuation of three Marshfield businesses Thursday morning at 10:28 a.m. near 2400 E. Fifth St. According to Jim Schmidt, Deputy Chief of Marshfield Fire and Rescue Department, excavation for a future warehouse by a front-end loader ruptured a six inch natural gas main and emitted an audible leak for one block. Marshfield Bus Services, Nelson-Jameson Inc. and Central Manufacturing Co. were evacuated without report of injury. Marshfield Fire and Rescue Department responded to the emergency and notified Mid-Wisconsin Gas of the leak. “They came in and decided to dig a hole down further on the gas main and pitched the main off,” Schmidt said. “The rest of the gas dispersed in the air before it could reach an ignition source.” Schmidt added that the fire department provided fire protection in case the gas reached an ignition point and was available in case of injury.

Ministry continues probe into gravel pit deaths; Two men were crushed by pile of concrete sand

CAMBRIDGE – The provincial Ministry of Labour is continuing its investigation into the deaths of two men at a gravel pit west of the city on Aug. 8. Scott Mason, 29, of Paris, Ont. and Chris Priestman, 23, of Guelph, were conducting quality tests on a mountain of concrete sand when it shifted and covered them at the Blue Circle Aggregates gravel pit on Regional Road 97. A ministry stop work order is still in effect, meaning the gravel pit is closed until Ministry of Labour officials complete their investigation. An inquest into the two deaths has also been called, although no date has been set. Normally, the regional coroner’s office will set a date after the ministry of labour wraps up its investigation. The ministry is also investigating the death by electrocution of 50-year-old Gerald Leader at the Toyota plant on Fountain Street July 31. Leader, an experienced electrician, died after he did not lock out the source of electricity on the panel he was working on.

Construction accident kills Perry man

By Sharon E. Crawford, Telegraph Staff Writer

WARNER ROBINS – A Perry man was killed Thursday afternoon after being crushed in a construction accident off Hunt Road. Investigators believe Darrell Lester, 42, was killed after the trench he was working in caved in. Another man, Cliff Nash, 20, of Warner Robins, was able to escape and was not injured. Lester and Nash were working for Pro Choice Construction, 102 Cherokee Forest Trail. Officials with Pro Choice Construction could not be reached Thursday evening. Houston County Coroner Danny Galpin said Thursday that Lester probably died shortly after the first amount of dirt fell on him and estimates the weight of the dirt was “like a ton of pressure” on Lester’s chest. An autopsy is expected to be conducted this morning. Warner Robins Sgt. John Wagner said Lester and Nash were laying sewage pipes in a wooded area off Hunt Road shortly after 1:30 p.m. Thursday when their section of the trench caved in. They were working outside a protective trench box when the accident happened. The cave-in completely buried Lester and covered Nash up to his head. Workers were able to pull Nash out of the ground, but could not completely unearth Lester. Firefighters from Warner Robins, Houston County and Macon-Bibb County worked for several hours to free Lester from his 8-foot-deep entrapment. Emergency crews had to shore up the sides of the trench before one of the firefighters could crawl in to recover the body. Lester was pronounced dead at the scene.

The Warner Robins Police Department, Houston County Sheriff’s Office, Houston County Emergency Management Agency and American Red Cross also responded. Officials with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration are expected to investigate the scene today.

UPDATE, Cave-in kills two sewer workers in Muldrow

2001-08-24
MULDROW — In a matter of seconds, Ronnie Vest watched a wall of earth nearly swallow him whole. He survived, but two co-workers — Dwight Rhodes and Larry Matthews — weren’t as lucky. Vest pulled himself out of a collapsed sewer line trench the three were working in Wednesday. Rhodes and Matthews died despite frantic efforts by city workers using heavy machinery and even their hands to dig them free. Vest, a private contractor working with the city, said the cave-in quickly overtook the crew. “They were within arm’s reach of you,” Vest said Thursday. “It was seconds and it was over. “We took all the precautions we could take, and it just happened. It’s just at the point that I really don’t want to talk about it.” An inspector from the state Labor Department was in Muldrow on Thursday. Preliminary findings showed that Rhodes and Matthews — both city employees — shouldn’t have been in the area of the ditch where they died, said Trey Davis, a Labor Department spokesman. Workers were told by a supervisor to work inside a protective metal safety box designed to prevent cave-in injuries. Work outside the box was forbidden, Davis said. Rhodes and Matthews were told not to go into an unprotected part of the ditch, but that was where they were when the cave-in occurred, Davis said. Vest was inside the box. Earlier that day, workers attended a training session on how to safely dig trenches. The cause of the cave-in had not been determined by Thursday evening. Besides the safety box, several safety bracings were in place, officials said. The three men were laying a sewer line at a house near Quail Run Golf Course in east Muldrow. Labor Department officials aren’t rushing to finish their inquiry because the pain of the deaths is so fresh, Davis said. It may be a few days before a cause of the collapse is established. “They’re pretty torn up there, from what I understand. We wanted to give them a little time.”