=======================Electronic Edition========================
RACHEL’S HAZARDOUS WASTE NEWS #79
—May 30, 1988—
News and resources for environmental justice.
——
Environmental Research Foundation
P.O. Box 5036, Annapolis, MD 21403
Fax (410) 263-8944; Internet: erf@igc.apc.org
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TWO WORKERS KILLED AT LANDFILL OWNED BY WASTE MANAGEMENT, INC.
Two workers were killed at a landfill owned by Waste Management,
Inc. April 14 in Bordentown, NJ. Donald R. James, 31, and John J.
Pallante, 28, were asphyxiated when they were buried in a
15-foot-deep clay trench that collapsed on them while they were
constructing it. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the men
tried to escape but were not able to outrun the collapsing clay.
Their co-workers tried “frantically” to dig them out from under 3
to 12 feet of heavy clay, unsuccessfully.
Trench construction is a well-known technology. Shoring up the
sides of an earth trench to prevent collapse is something civil
engineers have known how to do for many years. An inspector for
the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
gave permission for construction of the trench to continue,
provided that either lumber be used to reinforce the sides of the
trench or a trench box be used to shore up the trench walls. Don
Allendorf, OSHA area director, said neither of these precautions
was being used when the trench collapsed.
Waste Management in Oak Brook, IL, issued a statement saying the
company regretted the accident and extended its sympathies to the
families of the victims. A spokesperson for the company, Peter
Yaffe, said construction of the trench would only resume when
“it’s an absolutely safe site.”
The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) sent
an investigative team to the site to determine the cause of the
accident. At the end of one day, they announced “Our
investigation is over.” They also announced they had not
determined the cause of the accident, but a spokesperson for the
New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), Edward
Londres, said they’d found that the construction site met all
state standards, and he praised Waste Management, Inc., saying
“Their record with New Jersey is excellent. I have no problems
with them at all.”
The New Jersey Public Interest Research Group (NJ PIRG) and the
New Jersey Environmental Federation are currently carrying out
campaigns to limit the DEP’s discretionary authority for law
enforcement. The environmental groups charge that the agency has
consistently failed to enforce existing laws and that the
situation has worsened under the administration of Governor
Thomas Kean.
Waste Management is the largest waste hauler in America; it
operates 110 landfills in 40 states and four foreign countries.
–Peter Montague, Ph.D.
Descriptor terms: wmi; accidents; death; nj; osha; don
allendorf; njdep; edward londres; njpirg; dep; kean; haulers;