Ware River Power Inc. located at 16 East Main St. in Ware (Jim Russell photo)
By Jim Russell | Special to The Republican
on July 28, 2016 at 2:06 PM, updated July 28, 2016 at 2:07 PM
WARE, MASS. — A brief explosion created by an "arc flash" from a 600-volt electrical panel that seriously injured a Ware River Power Inc. employee was accidental, investigators from the state fire marshal's office have concluded.
Another employee suffered serious injuries, and a third worker, although hospitalized, returned to the scene the day of the April 17 electrical fire to assist investigators, a report provided by the fire marshal says.
Trooper Brian Clapprood of the Massachusetts State Police Fire and Explosion Investigation Unit, wrote the report that was obtained by The Republican this week following a public records request.
The document shows that the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which initially was expected to conduct an investigation, did not do so.
"I contacted Rick Abbott at OSHA after the incident and was informed that due to the low minimum number of total employees at Ware River Power, OSHA would not be involved in any type of investigation. I then contacted Massachusetts Department of Industrial Accidents. They stated that because the employees had workman's compensation, that their office would not be conducting any form of investigation," Clapprood wrote in the report that was completed July 13.
The report says investigators "determined that the incident was not suspicious and was likely the result of some type of human or mechanical accident."
The report also shows that an investigation by the insurance company handling the worker's compensation claims has not been completed. The report says the insurance company "believed that there may be a mechanical issue with the fuse disconnect switch" involving the electrical panel.
The report says the worker who was the most seriously burned from the heat of the arc flash pulled a lever on the 600-volt box to disconnect power while the other two injured workers were behind him.
"It was at this point that some type of 'arc flashing' occurred," Clapprood wrote.
Ware River Power Inc. is owned by Lucas Wright. The plant is located at 16 East Main St. in Ware.
According to the Low Impact Hydropower Institute, the WRP's facility "consists of two dams and a total of five turbines within ¼ mile of each other on the Ware River in Ware."
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OSHA begins inspection of Ware River Power after high-voltage accident causing three worker injuries
One of the Ware River dams used by Ware River Power Inc. to generate electricity, near South Street (Jim Russell photo)
Jim Russell | Special to The Republican
on April 19, 2016 at 6:41 PM, updated July 28, 2016 at 12:25 PM
WARE — The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration has begun an inspection of Ware River Power Inc. following a weekend electrical accident in which three workers were injured.
Ware River Power has an electricity generating plant at 16 East Main St. An OSHA spokesman confirmed the inspection but said the agency has no other information it can release involving their probe.
Contacted by telephone on Tuesday, WRP President Lucas Wright declined to comment.
The state fire marshal's preliminary investigation determined that the flash fire that resulted when WRP employees were doing work on high-voltage wiring was accidental. A spokesperson said the fire marshal's office plans to interview all workers involved.
The Ware Fire Department responded to a 1:10 p.m. call on April 17, and took the victims to Baystate Mary Lane Hospital.
The most seriously injured worker was flown to a Boston hospital, and another was transferred to the University of Massachusetts hospital system in Worcester.
“To rehabilitate and operate independent hydro facilities is the primary goal of Ware River Power, Inc."
OSHA regulations require companies to report to them within 24 hours any time there is a serious injury in the workplace.
According to the Low Impact Hydropower Institute, the WRP's facility "consists of two dams and a total of 5 turbines within 1/4 mile of each other on the Ware River in Ware."
The institute said WRP "purchased Pioneer Hydro out of bankruptcy. Since that time, the Wrights and WRP have devoted a vast amount of hard work, time, energy and capital to make Pioneer low impact on its surroundings."
"To rehabilitate and operate independent hydro facilities is the primary goal of Ware River Power Inc. since its inception in 1980," Lucas Wright and the firm's founder, David Wright, his father, wrote in a brief history detailing the origins of the business.
The company owns and operates five dams on the Ware and French rivers in Ware, Barre and Webster, with power-generating capacity of more than 2 megawatts, or enough electricity for 2,000 houses, according to the Wrights.
"Since 1980, Ware River Power acting as general contractor has rehabbed 18 complete hydro sites and more upgrading of operating sites," the Wrights wrote.
Their essay appeared in the summer 2007 edition of East Quabbin Land Trust News.