Tuesday, July 22, 2003

All in a Day's Work: While Republicans Fiddle, Workers Die

Calpine contractor dies in geothermal blast
New Mexico man becomes second of firm's specialists killed this year


A 44-year-old New Mexico man was killed over the weekend in a blast in geothermal fields in northwest Sonoma County in the second death this year of specialists hired by energy giant, Calpine Corp.

Calpine Corp. said the victim, identified by the Sonoma County coroner as Barry Carpenter of Farmington, N.M., was single. Carpenter worked for a drilling company, Air Comp....In May, a Merced maintenance worker who was inside a steam-cooling tower perished when a fan with blades was turned on.

More here.

Worker Dies After Falling Into Vat Of Cyanide
State Labor Department Inspecting Metal-Plating Company


MUNCIE, Ind. -- A worker at a metal plating company was killed when he fell into a 7,000-gallon vat of cyanide.

Investigators said no safety equipment appeared to have been in place that could have prevented 56-year-old Joseph Gray from falling into the vat Friday at Mid-City Plating Co.

Accident Kills Pair of Painters

Two construction workers who were painting the back side of a building at a Fairfax County, VA country club yesterday were killed when the cherry picker they were in tipped over, Fairfax County police said.

Former Princeton man dies in radio tower fall
PRINCETON, Ky. -- A former Princeton resident has died following a 450-foot fall from a Pennsylvania radio tower last week.

Clifford T. Williams, 26, of Paducah, formerly of Princeton, fell while he and another man per-formed maintenance on a 490- foot radio transmission tower in Greene Township, Pa., near the Ohio state line.

Coroner's officials said Williams was wearing a safety belt, though investigators have not disclosed whether the belt was connected to any of the tower's safety devices.