Arizona case brought criminal charges

To many watching news accounts of the grim scene outside The Orleans, it sounded like a workplace accident and a tragic tale of heroism gone wrong.

Two workers were dead and another clung to life after collapsing in the toxic atmosphere of an underground sewer vault. Two of the men had gone down the manhole in would-be rescue attempts, only to be overcome by hydrogen sulfide and pass out.

Officials called it an unfortunate accident. But Ed Thrasher knew the Feb. 2 incident was anything but an accident.

"I said, 'Oh my God, somebody else is being stupid. What is wrong with these corporations? Why don't they protect their people?'" the 69-year-old Las Vegas resident said.

Less than six years earlier, Thrasher's grandson, James Gamble, was one of two workers who died in a similar incident in Yuma, Ariz.

The 26-year-old worked for Far West Water and Sewer Inc., which was responsible for maintaining an underground sewer tank on a Yuma golf course. Workers for Far West and subcontractor Santec Corp. had been in and out of the tank all day on Oct. 24, 2001, when Gamble entered to remove a plug blocking the sewage.

While Gamble was in the tank, a supervisor turned on a pump that dumped raw sewage into the tank. Gamble died instantly, his stepfather said.

Gary Lanser, 62, a Santec employee who was set to retire in three weeks, went into the tank to save Gamble and succumbed to the toxic gas. A third worker passed out trying to help, and a fourth nearly lost consciousness on a rescue attempt.

At the time Thrasher thought it was an accident, but he didn't know about sewers, deadly hydrogen sulfide gas and the basic safety measures companies must provide to protect their workers entering underground pipes.

Inspectors with the Arizona Occupational Safety and Health Administration knew what was required, and they cited Far West with five serious safety violations, including failing to train employees and to provide basic safety equipment used for sewer entries. OSHA fined the company $35,000.

But the company's troubles didn't stop there.

In a rare move, the Arizona attorney general's office secured a grand jury indictment charging Far West and its chief executive officer with manslaughter and aggravated assault.

"The facts were so egregious," said Christina Fitzpatrick, the deputy attorney general who helped prosecute the case. "It was just waiting to happen."

The company's business involved working in sewers every day, yet it didn't provide the OSHA-required safety training or equipment, she said.

Despite a strong case, prosecutors had to overcome the perception that workplace deaths are simply accidents, she said. They also had to contend with angry locals who despised the Phoenix prosecutors and saw them as overzealous outsiders trying to lay blame on a beloved community leader, Far West executive Brent Weidman, she said.

After an eight-week trial in 2005, a jury found Far West guilty on five counts including negligent homicide. A judge fined the company $1.77 million.

Weidman went on trial the next year. After seven weeks in the courtroom, a jury found him guilty on two counts each of negligent homicide and reckless endangerment. He was given seven years' probation and 840 hours of community service.

Far West and Weidman have appealed the verdicts.

Fitzpatrick, who wanted Weidman to serve time, said more prosecutors across the country should seek criminal charges against companies that flout workplace safety laws. Without such a strong deterrent, companies will continue to skirt regulations and more workers will die, she said.

"That's the business community. I hate to say that," she said. Safety regulations "take time, and time equals money. I just think these small companies cut corners wherever they can."