WARNING, PEDESTRIAN DEATHS ARE ON THE RISE: Man and woman killed by speeding taxicab in Center City Philadelphia identified

25-year-old Amanda DiGirolomo of Phoenixville and 25-year-old Bryan Botti of Baltimore were struck at Broad and Arch streets, near Philadelphia City Hall.

Tuesday, September 08, 2015 06:24AM

CENTER CITY (WPVI) --

Police have identified the two people struck and killed by a taxicab in Center City Philadelphia early Monday.

25-year-old Amanda DiGirolomo of Phoenixville, Pa. and 25-year-old Bryan Botti of Baltimore, Md. were struck at Broad and Arch streets, near Philadelphia City Hall.

Action News is told both were in town for the Made In America festival.

It was just after 4:30 a.m. Monday when officers responded to the scene.

According to police, a Rosemont Taxi Cab Co. cab hit the two pedestrians, throwing them about 100 feet from the cab.

DiGirolomo was pronounced dead at the scene.

Botti died a short time later at the hospital.

A witness told police they estimated the taxi driver was going 50 miles per hour, 25 mph over the speed limit.

"The witness approximated the speed at over the speed limit," said Philadelphia Police Lieutenant Greg Brown of the Philadelphia Police Accident Investigations Division. "That hasn't been confirmed."

Police say the 41-year-old cab driver stopped and was taken to the hospital after experiencing chest pains. He is cooperating with police.

Investigators were awaiting toxicology results from blood work done at the hospital.

"The good thing here - he didn't leave the scene," said Brown. "He did the right thing and didn't make it an apparent crime by not leaving the scene. He stayed there."

Action News reached out to Rosemont Taxi Cab Co. The owners had no comment.

Amanda DiGirolomo was working part-time at the Phoenixville branch of the Freedom Valley Association YMCA.

In a statement to Action News Monday night, executive director Deirdre Wood said Amanda was "an amazing, vibrant young woman and will be terribly missed."

Wood said after graduating from Shippensburg University, DiGirolomo went to work for Vanguard while continuing to work at the YMCA part-time. Her mother and two sisters also worked at the YMCA.

"Amanda was a smart, outgoing and hardworking young woman," Wood added. "She had a bright future. Her thoughtfulness, caring smile and positive personality will be terribly missed. The loss of such a promising young adult brings great sadness to our 'Y' family."

3 fishermen dead after fishing boat Caledonian sinks off Vancouver Island coast

Three dead after commercial fishing boat capsizes off Tofino





CTV Vancouver: 3 dead after boat capsizes


The accident occurred in the waters 30 miles west of Tofino, near Estevan Point.


The Canadian Press
Published Monday, September 7, 2015 10:09AM PDT
Last Updated Monday, September 7, 2015 1:00PM PDT


VICTORIA - Three men are dead after a commercial fishing boat capsized near Tofino, B.C.

A fourth man was rescued from a life raft early Sunday morning, said Lt. (Navy) Nicole Murillo with the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre (JRCC).

The crew was hauling in a net when the ship listed, Murillo said.



Photos



An image of the capsized commercial fishing vessel Caledonian before the accident. (Eric Sorenson/MarineTraffic.com).

“They tried to correct it but unfortunately, the ship capsized and subsequently sunk.”

The company that owns the 33 metre dragger notified the Coast Guard after crews failed to check-in around 10 p.m. Saturday night.

The Coast Guard sent out three vessels and an aircraft, and found the survivor in a life raft around 1:30 a.m.

He was taken on to a cruise ship that had a full medical facility, and was transferred to hospital in Victoria Sunday afternoon.

The bodies of two of the fishermen were found Sunday morning.

Coast Guard boats and a helicopter, and several fishing vessels searched for the fourth man Sunday, and eventually found his body.

Murillo said early reports indicate the survivor was the only crew member wearing a life jacket.

The boat was fishing in a remote area about 55 kilometres off of the west coast of Vancouver Island.

//----------------------------////////////////
By Vancity Buzz Staff
6:05 PM PDT, Sun September 06, 2015

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Image: Marine Traffic / Google Maps

The Canadian Coast Guard has confirmed that three fishermen have perished just off the coast of Vancouver Island in Nootka Sound, just north of Tofino, after their fishing vessel sunk.

A total of four men on the vessel Caledonian were reported to be missing on Sunday morning. It is believed the vessel experienced issues late Saturday night at approximately 10 p.m. when it began to pull in its net haul.

The bodies of two men were recovered by a Coast Guard vessel and a third body was discovered by a Cormorant helicopter.

The fourth man on the vessel was found alive later in the day, with officials indicating he likely survived because he was the only fisherman on the vessel to wear a life vest.

The 1975-built vessel has a length of 26 metres, breadth of nine metres, and weighs 260 gross tons.

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada has issued a statement saying it has deployed an investigator to gather information and probe the incident.

Washington state sued the Department of Energy and its prime contractor for exposing workers to radioactive fumes during the enormous cleanup at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation.

State Wants Action at Hanford Nuke Dump
By JUNE WILLIAMS




SPOKANE, Wash. (CN) - Washington state sued the Department of Energy and its prime contractor for exposing workers to radioactive fumes during the enormous cleanup at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation.

The federal lawsuit claims the Department of Energy and Washington River Protection Solutions violated the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act by exposing workers to plutonium and 1,500 other volatile chemicals.

The 56-square-mile site has 177 underground tanks that still contain 56 million gallons of "mixed high-level radioactive and hazardous waste," according to the complaint. The tanks range in size from 55,000 gallons to 1.1 million gallons.

Of those 177 tanks, 149 are single-shell, which the Department of Energy itself calls "unfit for use," under state and federal standards. Due to the mixed chemicals in the tanks, "the waste undergoes continuous chemical reactions" which produce gases that build up in the tanks' headspaces.

"Over 1,500 different volatile chemicals have been reported in the headspaces of tanks. These chemicals include, but are not limited to, hydrogen, ammonia, mercury, N-nitrosodimethylamine, 2-nitrosamines, and volatile organic compounds (e.g., benzene, nitrous oxide, butanol, acetone, hexane, and xylene)," the complaint states.

"For years, Washington workers have been exposed to noxious fumes and chemical vapors as they clean up the federal government's nuclear site at Hanford," Attorney General Bob Ferguson said in a statement announcing the Sept. 2 lawsuit.

"Enough is enough. The health risks are real, and the state is taking action today to ensure the federal government protects these workers now and in the future."

Ferguson claims the Department of Energy has known since the late 1980s that workers were being exposed to toxic vapors.

A Department of Energy investigation in 1992 "pointed out a number of failures and shortcomings at the tank farms, noting that there had not been a properly developed industrial hygiene program and that a technically adequate characterization of tank emissions had not been completed," the complaint states.

Ferguson says the Energy Department never fixed those problems.
In 2004, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (NIOSH) found that Hanford workers were exposed to toxic vapors, suffered acute and chronic health effects, were not properly monitored and were not routinely provided with protective equipment, among other things.

"More than a decade after the issuance of the NIOSH report, tank vapor exposure events continue to endanger workers in the tank farm areas. As noted above, there were more than 50 reported worker vapor exposure incidents between January 2014 and April 2015, demonstrating that the problem of worker safety in the tank farm areas has not been solved," according to the complaint.

Washington River Protection Solutions prepared its own report in 2014 that found "evidence strongly suggests the existence of a causal link between vapor releases from Hanford waste tanks and adverse health effects to workers," the state says.

The report faulted Hanford's industrial hygiene program for failing to detect releases of concentrated chemicals.

"The ongoing tank vapor releases do not allow for the provision of a safe and healthful workplace free from recognized hazards. Leadership at the Department of Energy will need to be fully committed to address the vapor exposure issues," the report stated.

Washington River Protection Solutions used the report to make safety recommendations, including sampling tank contents, revising an exposure assessment program and using real-time vapor detection devises and personal protection equipment.

The Attorney General's Office said that 2014 report was "the latest in a series of studies" over 20 years assessing the problem of Hanford workers' exposure to toxic waste.

"Despite 20 years of study and multiple reports, the federal government has not implemented a lasting solution and workers continue to get sick. Since March 2014, at least 50 workers have sought medical attention for exposure to chemical vapors at the site. In June 2015, another 13 workers were exposed to vapors. Just weeks ago, on Aug. 14, an instrument technician at a double-shell tank farm was exposed to apparent vapors. He was not wearing respiratory protection because none has been required in the double-shell tank farms," Ferguson said in his statement Tuesday.

Hanford, on the Columbia River in Eastern Washington, produced plutonium for nuclear weapons from 1943 to 1987. It was designated a Superfund site for cleanup in 1988.

Washington wants the defendants ordered to develop and carry out "a comprehensive and enforceable program, with provisions for independent oversight and accountability, that provides for engineering controls, administrative controls, and personal protective equipment sufficient to protect workers and other potentially exposed individuals."

The Department of Energy declined to comment, other than saying it is "committed to protecting workers, members of the public, and the environment."

Washington River Protection Solutions said in a statement it has already implemented some safety recommendations from the 2014 report, including increasing respiratory protections.

"WRPS has made substantial improvements in the Hanford tank farms' chemical vapor management program since being contracted to operate the tank farms. WRPS is committed to continuously improve worker safety and health," it said.

Worker with McIntosh Plumbing injured after he was buried up to his chest when a sewer trench collapsed in Council Bluffs, Iowa

Trench collapses, sending one man to the hospital
UPDATED 6:57 PM CDT Sep 03, 2015




COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa —

A trench collapsed in Council Bluffs Thursday morning resulting in one man being taken to the hospital.

 
A new sewer line was being installed near 200 Adrian Avenue when the wall collapsed. A worker was buried up to his chest and co-workers had to dig him out.


We’re told the man is an employee of McIntosh Plumbing.


Fortunately, his coworkers were able to dig much of the dirt away from him before rescuers arrived.


“His coworkers had taken care of most of the dirt removal prior to the crews’ arrival. They just were able to take him, put a backboard on him and take him out of the trench on the backboard,” said Assistant Fire Chief Chris Sorenson.


The man is expected to be okay. The trench he was working in ranged from about four to 12 feet deep.

City officials still need to determine what caused the collapse, and if anything should have been done to prevent it.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating the incident.

4 construction workers injured in Miami Township, Ohio after roof trusses collapsed in a barn

Fire chief says workers were trying to tighten roof trusses
UPDATED 5:28 PM EDT Sep 04, 2015



MIAMI TOWNSHIP, Ohio —Four construction workers were injured in a Miami Township barn collapse Friday afternoon.



Authorities said a barn that was being built in the 5500 block of Mount Zion Rd collapsed.


Three were transported to Bethesda North Hospital by ambulance. They are listed in fair condition.

One person was transported via AirCare. The worker suffered a serious pelvic injury, officials said.

The fire chief said the workers were trying to tighten roof trusses. It is still unclear what caused the collapse, but it was a domino effect taking down the entire framework of the roof approximately 75 feet.

Two scissor lifts were on the scene but the fire chief said it is unclear if anyone was using them.

The chief said the Clermont County Building Department was on the scene to assess the damage. It is unclear how long it will take to repair.
Images: Several people injured in barn collapse