A daily compilation for DWR personnel of significant news articles and comment
August 8 2007
1. Top Item
State water department cited in deaths of aqueduct divers
Associated Press – 8/7/07
By Samantha Young, staff writer
The state Division of Occupational Safety and Health offered no conclusive reason for the February deaths of divers Tim Crawford, 50, and Martin Alvarado, 44. Nevertheless, it fined the department $16,120 for violating numerous work force safety regulations.
Crawford and Alvarado drowned on Feb. 7 while performing a routine search for mussels on the metal trash grates at the Dos Amigos Pumping Plant, near Los Banos about 85 miles southeast of San Jose.
Investigators called decisions by the divers and plant employees possible "contributing factors" in the deaths. They included running a pump during the 30-minute dive, the divers' decision not to use available communications gear and the use of an untrained employee to watch over them during the dive, according a summary that accompanied the citation report.
Water Resources Director Lester Snow said the recommended changes would improve the dive program, which has been suspended since the deaths.
"Our paramount concern is the safety of our employees," Snow said in a statement. "Before any decision is made to restart our dive program or put our divers back in the water, DWR will revise its procedures based on these citations and other issues that come from our own accident investigation."
An independent panel of diving experts also is reviewing the incident.
The investigation by the Division of Occupational Safety and Health had findings similar to those made public last month by the California Highway Patrol.
Despite the investigations, the specific cause remains unanswered.
An evaluation of the divers' gear provided few clues, according to the report.
Tests on the air tanks by the Navy showed no sign of contamination. Air samples from the team's six other tanks and the compressor used to fill them also showed no problems.
However, the department was fined $750 because its air compressor did not contain a high-temperature or carbon monoxide alarm.
The department also was cited for running one of six pumps at the plant while the divers conducted what was supposed to be a routine 30-minute dive. Investigators also determined that labor laws were violated when the divers went into the fast-moving currents of the aqueduct without a rope line to the shore.
Last month's report by the highway patrol revealed that rescue efforts were delayed because employees at the plant did not know how to respond and waited about an hour to call 911 after the pair failed to surface.
Compounding the rescue attempt, a diver called to the plant had to wait for the necessary equipment to make the dive.
The men's bodies were recovered nearly two hours later in about 30 feet of water.
They were at the bottom of the aqueduct near the pump that had been running during their dive.
The department was fined for failing to plan emergency procedures, not training an employee given a new job assignment and ensuring employees followed work practices outlined in an employee diving manual. It also did not keep adequate records about service work on the scuba gear, investigators said.
Crawford and Alvarado were the first members of the department's dive team to die on duty. Their families could not be reached immediately Tuesday for comment.
The Department of Water Resources has convened a task force to study the safety of its program, which has been criticized by diving experts for relying on recreational scuba gear. They said the swift, murky waters of the aqueduct make commercial diving equipment necessary.
Investigators recommended the department's dive team use voice communication equipment in all future dives and deploy robots for underwater inspections when possible.
Before the deaths, dive teams regularly inspected the California Aqueduct. The 75-foot-wide canal is part of the State Water Project, a system that funnels drinking water from
http://www.sacbee.com/114/story/313815.html
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