Three Dead In Wastewater Trench Tragedy
By Sara Jerome,
@sarmje
Complaints about a sewage backup in a Florida Keys neighborhood prompted an investigation that ended in tragedy when three men died in a wastewater trench.
“Three contracted utility workers died Monday morning after becoming overwhelmed by gas fumes inside a drainage trench located in a Key Largo subdivision,” Florida Keys News reported.
“The first man, the sheriff said, removed a manhole cover and went underground. Then silence. A second man climbed down in search of his coworker and he, too, lost consciousness. Desperate, a third man climbed into the same hole and was immediately overcome by fumes,” the Miami Herald reported.
“The hole, just wide enough to fit a body and about 15 feet deep, was filled with hydrogen sulfide and methane gas created from years of rotted vegetation,” the report said.
The victims included Elway Gray, 34, of Fort Lauderdale, Louis O’Keefe, 49, of Little Torch Key, and Robert Wilson, 24, of Summerland Key, the Miami Herald reported.
The three men were contractors for the private roadway contractor D. N. Higgins, according to 10 News. They were hired as subcontractors for Monroe County.
“None of the four men wore masks or carried the vitally important air packs that likely would have saved their lives. [One official] said his detectives and workers from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration will investigate the deadly incident,” the Miami Herald reported.
“In April, 2002, an Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspection of a Higgins project in a Marco Island manhole resulted in a $2,500 fine that got settled for $1,875,” the report said.
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