Employee dies in accident at Sewickley sewage plant
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Emergency crews gather outside the Sewickley sewage treatment plant after Thursday's accident.
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Investigators are trying to determine what killed an employee at the Sewickley sewage treatment plant Thursday and sickened three of his would-be rescuers who rushed into a deep underground shaft where he had fallen 30 feet.
Although the investigation is not complete, officials said a toxic and pungent mixture of gasses, including methane, is likely to blame for the industrial accident, which happened about 12:40 p.m., while workers were performing routine maintenance on the narrow shaft at the plant on Ferry Street.
It was unknown whether John Hogan III, 31, of Baden, a borough employee, died as a result of the noxious fumes or the fall. The Allegheny County medical examiner's office planned an autopsy today.
It was the fourth industrial accident in the region in the last two weeks, which together have resulted in five deaths.
Injured were the plant's superintendent, Dennis Mike; an inspector from the borough's engineering firm, Shawn Haynes; and a contract worker, Franklin Pounds Jr. They hurried into the hole to help Mr. Hogan, who officials said was working inside but fell while trying to climb out.
"They were all overcome," said Mr. Pounds' father, Franklin Pounds Sr., who waited in the emergency room of Allegheny General Hospital Thursday night.
He said his son, 43, of New Castle, suffered broken ribs, a collapsed lung, fractures on his vertebra and other injuries and was recuperating in the hospital's intensive care unit.
A plant supervisor told Mr. Pounds his son fell into the shaft first, and was injured when his coworkers tumbled in after him. "He's in a lot of pain. It's going to be a while before he'll be out running again."
Mr. Mike and Mr. Haynes, 33, of Bentleyville, were treated and released from AGH, where they were taken for its hyperbaric chamber, which provides intensive oxygen treatment, though none of them needed it.
"They were definitely very lucky," Mr. Haynes' wife, Marla, said, while expressing her condolences. Working together daily, the men at the sewage plant had become close friends. "It's a big loss."
First Published July 30, 2010 12:00 am
