U.S. Water News Online
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- State investigators have cited the Department of Water Resources for safety lapses that appear to have contributed to the deaths of two divers in the California Aqueduct this year.
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.
However, the workplace safety agency fined the department $16,120 for violating work force safety regulations.
Crawford and Alvarado drowned Feb. 7 while searching for mussels on the metal trash grates at a pumping plant about 85 miles southeast of San Jose.
The department was cited because its air compressor did not contain a high-temperature or carbon monoxide alarm; for running one of six pumps at the plant while the divers were underwater; for failing to plan emergency procedures; and for other violations.
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.
The 75-foot-wide canal is part of the State Water Project, a system that funnels drinking water from Northern California more than 400 miles south.
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