Oxygen levels in the air at a Stickney Water Reclamation Plant vault where two men were killed last month is far lower than it should be, according to tests commissioned by an attorney representing the widow of one of the workers.
Tests conducted last week show the concentration of oxygen at less than 2 percent at 2 feet above the floor of the concrete vault, said Louis Cairo, the lawyer representing the family of Rodolfo Aguilera, 47, of North Aurora, in a civil lawsuit. A normal oxygen level is 21 percent oxygen.
“It is virtually impossible to survive for more than 30 seconds at 2 percent oxygen,” Cairo said.
Tests showed that about halfway down the 10-foot-deep vault, oxygen levels were 6 percent to 8 percent oxygen, a level Cairo said is difficult to survive in for more than a minute.
Frederick Feldman, the attorney for the water reclamation district, declined comment on the lawsuit or test results.
The civil lawsuit was filed days after Aguilera and his co-worker, William Kachavos, 45, of Flossmoor, died after entering an underground vault at the Stickney plant. The lawsuit against the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago seeks $50,000 in damages for Aguilera’s family, but also calls for the water reclamation district to put additional safety regulations in place.
Kachavos’ family is pursuing an identical civil lawsuit against the water reclamation district that is expected to be filed by early next week, according to their attorney, Jerry Latherow.
“Our initial concern at this point is to find out exactly what happened,” Latherow said. “The damages are there, because it’s obvious there’s a major loss to this now widow and her two very young kids, and we have to do what we can to protect these families. There had to be some negligence somewhere out there and we have to make sure we have the appropriate party held responsible.”
Cairo is still waiting on results of air vacuum testing, which assesses the quality of the air at various heights within the vault. The tests look for chemical and gas molecules in the air that would compromise the ability to breath normally, Cairo said.
Cairo said he received a court order this week to conduct soil boring testing next week. The tests would determine if certain chemicals or gases exist in the dirt around the vault that could cause a toxic situation or consume the oxygen that did exist in air.
“Once our testing is completed, we will begin fact discovery to obtain contracts, specifications, safety materials for the site, etc., and then depositions of the fact witnesses,” Cairo said.
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration is also conducting an investigation into the deaths, but a spokesman said results will not be in for some time.
The Aguilera and Kachavos families could not be reached for comment.
