Worker Is Killed in Accident at Dam Project

HEMET — One construction worker was killed and three others were seriously injured Tuesday when they fell about 45 feet from scaffolding at the Eastside Reservoir project, water officials said.

It was the first fatality at the site, where the Metropolitan Water District is building Southern California’s largest reservoir.

The men were installing fire- and sound-proofing material on the outside of the main pumping station when an apparent shift in weight on the scaffolding caused them to fall, said MWD spokesman George Rooney.

All of the men worked for Insul-Acoustics Inc. of South El Monte. One man died at the scene and three others were taken to hospitals in serious or critical condition, he said. Their names were not released.

Work on the pumping plant was halted for the day but was expected to resume today.

The MWD and the California Occupational Safety and Health Administration were expected to conduct separate investigations into the accident, Rooney said.

The project is about 70% finished and is scheduled for completion in about a year

Eastside Reservoir in Domenigoni Valley will be Southern California’s largest reservoir: 4 1/2 miles long, 2 miles wide and up to 260 feet deep, holding about 800,000 acre-feet, or 269 billion gallons, of water.

Initially, it will hold mostly water from the Colorado River. Additional state project water from Northern and Central California will be available when the Inland Feeder pipeline, now under construction, is completed in 2004.