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Server Time:
2024-05-06 13:54:20
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 RobertB
    
Location: Skeeterville, TX
Gender: Male
Maybe I shouldn't be using my real name...
 |  |  | Fairview (N of Dallas) storm sewer fatality
< on 11/3/2011 8:00 PM >
|  | | | This is a situation I think my fellow drainers will want to watch very closely. Yesterday (11/2/2011), three workers were finishing up a construction project in Fairview, between Allen and McKinney. One of the last tasks for the year-long project was to remove a plug on a 60-inch (five feet, walkable if you bend way over) storm sewer line.
The first worker went in, but he didn't come out -- he was later found dead. A second worker went in, and is now missing. The third (the brother of the deceased) went to get a rope, and didn't follow the other two -- which apparently saved his life.
We don't have combined sanitary-storm sewer systems in this part of the country, so I wouldn't have expected this sort of tragedy to occur in a storm drain. But several things seem to have come together to make this a deathtrap:
* Pictures from the news article show access apparently from the top, not near an inflow or an outflow. Also, it's in a field -- no street drains nearby. That means there's not much opportunity for air flow in the pipe.
* Homes in the area are generally served by septic systems. Underground drain pipes are universally leaky, so raw sewage is certain to trickle into the system.
* We're in the middle of a historic drought. The largest source of shallow groundwater is the septic system. (I've seen this in person at the place where we keep our horses -- the grass really *is* greener over the septic field.)
* The task was to remove a plug, which likely opened up a stagnant section to the rest of the system.
* This was one of the last steps in a long construction project, so there's speculation that the crew was rushing, and may have skipped their usual confined-space safety protocols.
* Hydrogen Sulfide gas has a strong smell -- but it's perceived the same at barely-detectable levels as it is at quickly-lethal levels.
* One of the workers is still missing, so there is apparently a strong water flow in the pipe. It would be easy to dismiss that rotten-egg smell while trying to keep your footing after opening up a five-foot plug -- or while searching for your buddy with your ears full of roaring echoes.
* The pipe feeds a North Texas Municipal Water District (NTMWD) collection facility about one mile to the east. That's a long pipe to search in hazmat suits, and a lot of places for a survivor (or body) to get caught in debris.
Overall, I think the tragedy offers both tragic lessons and cautious reassurance to local drainers. For one thing, I'm now even more leery of mid-pipe entry points. My concern before was that whatever ladder was stuck in the wall might be structurally unsound... but now I'm more concerned about the distance between fresh air sources. But I do think that our usual technique, entering at an infall or outfall, provides some measure of protection against suffocating fumes.
On the other hand, I'm more thankful than ever that I made it out of this one drain in Mesquite, where a low spot with no street drains had an unfriendly smell. I may be even more hesitant about pushing forward next time!
News links:
NBC5:
http://www.nbcdfw....cal/133153908.html
CBS:
http://www.cbsnews...as-sewer-accident/
Star-Telegram:
http://www.star-te...dent-in-north.html
J'ai toujours fait une prière à Dieu, qui est fort courte.
La voici: "Mon Dieu, rendez nos ennemis bien ridicules!"
Dieu m'a exaucé. |
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Raticus
    
Moderator
Location: Tyler
Gender: Male
Ratus exploricus abandonae
| | Re: Fairview (N of Dallas) storm sewer fatality
<Reply # 1 on 11/3/2011 8:22 PM >
| | | | Wow. That's tragic. Thanks for the update RobertB. This also reminds me of one of the reasons I don't do drains.
Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools speak because they have to say something. |
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Mr_Fiend
Location: Tulsa, OK
Gender: Male
Infiltration Expert...
| | | Re: Fairview (N of Dallas) storm sewer fatality
<Reply # 2 on 11/4/2011 12:20 AM >
| | | | Yikes.
From past jobs I have taken confined space training and I've had experience with volatile sewer systems (mainly in refineries). If a man goes missing or loses contact, you NEVER go in after him unless you have a supplied air system.
I've been in a few drains with natural gas and methane leaks, as soon as I smell it, I'm out. Most all drains have an air flow, but of course they were in a closed off section with stagnant air.
I've actually tried accessing sealed off and abandoned sewer sections, but this certainly paints a real picture of what can happen.
Some of the more serious drainers have gas monitors. I have a portable h2s monitor. I may start bringing it with me...
https://abandonedo...bout/the-aok-team/ |
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SuchundFind
Location: San Antonio, Texas
Gender: Male
| | Re: Fairview (N of Dallas) storm sewer fatality
<Reply # 3 on 11/4/2011 12:28 AM >
| | | | I think if H2S is really strong, you can't smell it anymore, you will lose your sense of smell very fast.
I wouldn't go any where underground without an H2S and CO meter.
But I like to be prepared and over prepared anyway.
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o6oGRAVEo9o
Location: Rockwall
Gender: Male
| | Re: Fairview (N of Dallas) storm sewer fatality
<Reply # 4 on 11/4/2011 12:52 AM >
| | | | Posted by SuchundFind
I think if H2S is really strong, you can't smell it anymore, you will lose your sense of smell very fast.
I wouldn't go any where underground without an H2S and CO meter.
But I like to be prepared and over prepared anyway.
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Agreed, id rather take it and not need it than need it and not take it. Safety is king.
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Raticus
Moderator
Location: Tyler
Gender: Male
Ratus exploricus abandonae
| | Re: Fairview (N of Dallas) storm sewer fatality
<Reply # 5 on 11/4/2011 2:25 AM >
| | | | Posted by SuchundFind
But I like to be prepared and over prepared anyway.
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Posted by o6oGRAVEo9o
Agreed, id rather take it and not need it than need it and not take it. Safety is king.
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The two smartest statements I've read in a while. This applies above ground and below.
[last edit 11/4/2011 2:25 AM by Raticus - edited 1 times]
Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools speak because they have to say something. |
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Imbroglio
Location: DFW
Gender: Male
The glass is twice as big as it needs to be.
| | | Re: Fairview (N of Dallas) storm sewer fatality
<Reply # 6 on 11/4/2011 6:29 AM >
| | | | I seem to recall reading a story, perhaps on UER, of a potentially lethal buildup of that gas in a non-subterranean location somewhere, like behind a door to a room that had been sealed for several decades in some sort of factory, as I recall. Anybody else remember that?
http://www.noelkernsphotography.com |
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o6oGRAVEo9o
Location: Rockwall
Gender: Male
| | Re: Fairview (N of Dallas) storm sewer fatality
<Reply # 7 on 11/4/2011 10:27 AM >
| | | | Posted by Imbroglio
I seem to recall reading a story, perhaps on UER, of a potentially lethal buildup of that gas in a non-subterranean location somewhere, like behind a door to a room that had been sealed for several decades in some sort of factory, as I recall. Anybody else remember that?
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Never heard about that, sounds scary as hell tho. Air quality is the one thing that always scares me the most. unstable flooring, rusted nails and the like I can at least see, its kinda hard to see deadly chemicals floating in the air you're trying to breathe.
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Raticus
Moderator
Location: Tyler
Gender: Male
Ratus exploricus abandonae
| | Re: Fairview (N of Dallas) storm sewer fatality
<Reply # 8 on 11/4/2011 12:39 PM >
| | | | I don't remember reading that but I'd sure like to if you happen to find it.
Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools speak because they have to say something. |
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SuchundFind
Location: San Antonio, Texas
Gender: Male
| | Re: Fairview (N of Dallas) storm sewer fatality
<Reply # 9 on 11/4/2011 2:52 PM >
| | | | We have oil rigs here, so a H2S meter was the next one on my list anyway, and the CO meter.
As single items they cost each 150 bucks, as one meter they cost 600 bucks.
Would be two more items I carry around.
My car is already a rolling Search and Rescue Station, so whatever.
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Imbroglio
Location: DFW
Gender: Male
The glass is twice as big as it needs to be.
| | | Re: Fairview (N of Dallas) storm sewer fatality
<Reply # 10 on 11/6/2011 6:50 AM >
| | | | Posted by Raticus
I don't remember reading that but I'd sure like to if you happen to find it.
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My recollection is that it was on here UER where I saw it, actually. Or maybe it was a linked story on an external website.
Roughly, the story goes that there were a couple guys exploring some old factory, meat plant, etc...something like that. They came to a door they wanted to get through, but it was sealed tight. They found something nearby to start prying the door with, and got it just barely cracked enough for some of this pressurized gas to seep through, and one of the guys evidently knew enough to a) know what it was, and b) get the hell out immediately.
After reporting what they found to authorities, a team went in with proper equipment and defused the situation.
http://www.noelkernsphotography.com |
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Raticus
Moderator
Location: Tyler
Gender: Male
Ratus exploricus abandonae
| | Re: Fairview (N of Dallas) storm sewer fatality
<Reply # 11 on 11/6/2011 4:22 PM >
| | | | Luckily I've never come across anything like that. I don't usually try to force open doors but it is always tempting. Always.
I don't have the meters and things to detect bad air. I probably should. I've just always moved out of a room if anything smells funny, other than just that old musty, dirty, greasy smell you get in places.
Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools speak because they have to say something. |
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