BOCA RATON, Florida (3 June 2005) -- A laborer who drowned to death while working in the underground drainage pipe of a Boca Raton townhouse site did not have the lifeline equipment or standby diver required by federal safety standards. Fire Rescue officials confirmed Friday that Lake Worth resident Ciro Cardenas Jr., 29, was not even wearing his scuba gear when he died inside the 215-foot-long pipe Thursday at the unfinished Vistazo development at 550 Spanish River Boulevard. Both a lifeline and backup diver are required by the diving standards of Section 1910.424(a) of the U.S. Labor Department's Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA), which is currently investigating Cardenas' death. "We did not find a lifeline. I don't believe he had one because we found all his gear on him and there was no backup diver equipped to go in after him," said Battalion Chief Russ Accardi of the Delray Beach Fire Rescue Department. Accardi said Cardenas' scuba gear did not have any straps, meaning the laborer was holding or dragging his air tank along the cramped confines of the 36-inch-wide drainage pipe when he drowned. "It was just a tank with a long hose that attaches to a regulator. That was all he had, and the hose was not attached when we found him in his wetsuit," Accardi said. Confirmation of other safety violations is still pending. The Boca Raton Police Department and OSHA are conducting independent investigations into what Cardenas was doing in the 11-foot-deep pipe and whether he was licensed and trained to do it. "I can't disclose or confirm anything," said Anthony Campos, the OSHA fatalities investigator handling the case. "All I can tell you is that we're looking into the safety practices of the company [that employed him]." Campos said his findings would not be public for at least two months. He would not confirm reports that Cardenas' employer was Shenandoah Construction, a Pompano Beach company cited for past OSHA violations. It remains unclear whether the Vistazo developer will also be held responsible for any violations. A spokesman for Miami-based developer Lennar, which is building the 202-unit Vistazo development, said Friday that the company had no knowledge of any OSHA violations that could have led to Cardenas' death. "We're cooperating with all of the agencies to determine the circumstances that surround Mr. Cardenas' passing," said Marshall Ames, a company vice president. "We extend our deepest condolences to the family." | | Four divers from Delray Fire Rescue and three divers from the Boca police were involved in Thursday's daylong rescue-recovery, which was supervised by the Boca Raton Fire Rescue Department. The three agencies converged the Vistazo development, located not far from Boca Raton Airport, shortly after a Cardenas co-worker called 911 at noon. The co-worker told officials that Cardenas had gone into the pipe at 11:40 promising a 10-minute dive but had not returned after 20 minutes. Rescue divers descended immediately into both the 215-foot pipe and the drainage pond where it ends, but were unable to get past two mounds of dirt near the pond entrance and the manhole where Cardenas entered. Officials were forced to plug the entrance to the pond and begin draining the pipe shortly after 2 pm. As hopes of a rescue faded, several members of Cardenas' family stood sobbing behind a police barrier. They declined to be interviewed and still had not issued any statements as of Friday. "They're really upset and they don't want to talk to anyone," said Capt. Steve Brancazio of the Boca police. Officials said the rescue officially became a recovery after about an hour and a half, when it became clear Cardenas could not have survived even with the 40 minutes of air contained in his tank. Recovery workers ultimately located Cardenas' lifeless body with a remote camera at 4:25 pm as they were still draining the pipe. "I saw his feet and his arms," said Frank Correggio, Boca Fire Rescue spokesman. "There was no sign of life." Cardenas' body was found about 26 feet into the pipe, clinging to the far side of the same dirt mound that had thwarted rescuers several hours earlier. There is no way of knowing how close the divers came to Cardenas or whether he was actually trapped at the dirt mound or blocked while coming back to the manhole, said Accardi, the Delray fire battalion chief. "Obviously, our draining the pipe could have moved both the body and the dirt, so it's hard to say anything for certain," Accardi said. After locating Cardenas, recovery workers drained the pond and used ropes and pulleys to bring his body back to the pipe's entry point. Cardenas was finally pulled from the pipe shortly after 8:30 pm, nearly nine hours after he entered it. SOURCE - Boca Raton News |
