At approximately 3:11 p.m. on Saturday, December 11, 1971, 21 men died when an explosion ripped through the six-mile-long tunnel under construction beneath Lake Huron in Fort Gratiot Township, outside Port Huron. Another man who was bought out injured, but alive, died 10 months later. The tunnel was intended for use by the water treatment plant then being built by the Detroit Metropolitan Water Services, the name by which DWSD was known at the time.UPDATE: More about this year's commemoration here.
Monday, December 11, 2006
December 11, 1971: Today In Workplace Safety History
December 11, 1971: A methane gas explosion kills 22 workers building a water tunnel at Detroit Water and Sewerage's Lake Huron Water Plant in Fort Gratiot. More here
