Texas Manhole Accident

"Body of second man found in Fairview sewer accident"

By Conner Hammett, Star Local News, 11/04/2011 7:30 PM

Rescuers have recovered the body of a man who went missing Thursday after a fatal sewer line accident in Fairview.

The man, whose identity has not yet been released at the family's request, was found around 12:15 p.m. Friday in a water pit near the entrance to the North Texas Municipal Water District (NTMWD) sanitation building on Orr Road in Lucas. His body was recovered by commercial divers and Fairview fire personnel shortly before 4 p.m. later that day.

The initial accident occurred shortly after 8 a.m. Thursday in the Thompson Springs development of Fairview. Three men were working to remove a plug from a NTMWD sewer line when one man entered a manhole and was overcome by toxic gas, rendering him unconscious. A second man returned from retrieving a rope to find another worker unconscious in the manhole and the first man missing.

Rescuers arrived minutes later and were able to recover the body of Jeronimo Cruz, 44 of Arlington, but were unable to locate the missing man until Friday. Both victims were employees of S.J. Louis Construction, a contractor hired by the NTMWD to perform work on the line.

Though initial reports suggested the men were not wearing protective breathing apparatuses when they entered the manhole, Jay Downs, a representative from S.J. Louis Construction, said he could not confirm if the men were wearing protective gear at the time of the accident. Downs also said he could not confirm if the crew tested the manhole for hazardous levels of gas before entering, though he said such testing devices were with the men at the site.

When asked by reporters about a series of Occupational Safety and Health Administration violations incurred by the company over the past four years, Downs said he could not address any case without researching each incident.

"I couldn't address specifics about any prior incidents without going back and having a chance to study them, but I don't think that the company has had an inordinate or unusual number of accidents when you consider the volume of work that it does and the size that the company is," he said.

Both men were "long-term" employees of the company and leave behind families, Downs said. An internal investigation of the two deaths by the company is under way.

"We're trying to turn over every rock we can," he said.

The recovery of the second victim was an "all-night effort" by a combination of NTMWD, S.J. Louis, Fairview police and fire personnel, and Wylie fire rescue personnel, said Dick Price, Fairview fire chief. Searchers used remote-controlled video cameras to search the line, which is around 1 mile in length, for the missing man.

A pipeline obstruction found by sonar readings around 3 a.m. Friday was determined to be a pipeline abnormality and not the body of the second man later that morning.

Police and fire officials were called to the scene by an emergency call from a nearby homeowner in the 200 block of Dumont Court, who had been asked to contact police by the surviving worker.


Source: http://www.allenamerican.com/articles/2011/11/04/allen_american/news/254.txt