Iowa court rules in sewer death case

Iowa court rules in sewer death case

	Published : Fri, 16 Feb 2007 23:27 By : Agencies Print this Story

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - The Iowa Supreme Court on Friday said a Missouri company violated safety rules during a sewer repair accident in Des Moines that killed two workers in 2002.

The court's ruling throws out lower court rulings and upholds $733,750 in penalties assessed to Insituform Technologies Inc., of Chesterfield, Mo.

The company was hired by the city of Des Moines to install a lining in underground sewage pipes after environmental officials discovered a release of sewage into a reservoir.

During the July 2002, project, Daniel Grasshoff, 25, of St. Charles, Mo., and Brian Burford, 19, of Lemay, Mo., were overcome by hydrogen sulfide gas and collapsed face down in sewage. Five co-workers were overcome by the fumes as they entered the sewer in a failed rescue attempt.

The Iowa Occupational Safety and Health bureau cited Insituform for nine serious violations and issued total penalties of $808,250.

The company contested the fines to the Employment Appeal Board, which referred the case to an administrative law judge. The judge upheld most of the penalties, but modified, dismissed and combined others, and reduced the penalties to $158,000, court records show.

Insituform appealed the decision to the board, which reinstated all but one of the violations and increased the penalties to $733,750.

The company sought review by the district court, which upheld the board's decision, but reinstated the $158,000 in penalties, records show.

Insituform and the Employment Appeal Board appealed that decision, and the Iowa Court of Appeals dismissed all but two of the violations, ruling that the violations were based on the wrong safety standards. The appeals court ordered Insituform to pay a total penalty of $4,500 on the remaining two violations, court records show.

In it's ruling Friday, the Supreme Court said it reviewed whether the proper standards were applied in the case; whether applying those standards in the case is constitutional; whether evidence shows Insituform violated the standards; and whether the district court erred in combining the fines assessed by the Employment Appeal Board.

The court found the standards applied to Insituform's employees and that the use of those standards does not violate the U.S. or Iowa constitutions. The court also ruled that evidence supports the Employment Appeal Board's decision that Insituform violated the standards and that the board's assessment of penalties was appropriate.

The court's decision vacates the appeals court ruling, overturns the district court's decision and orders the case back to district court for judgment in favor of the Employment Appeal Board.

David Morris, an attorney for Insituform, was not available for comment, according to a woman answering the phone Friday at his office.

Gail Sheridan-Lucht, an attorney for the Employment Appeal Board, said the case 'sets good precedent in the state of Iowa.

'We felt from the beginning that this was an important case,' she said. 'The Supreme Court affirmed some information that is very helpful to our department as far as issuing citations in the future. From that perspective, it's a very good case for us.'

'There is not a lot of OSHA law in Iowa, so when we get any court ruling, but particularly a ruling in our favor, that's important for us,' Sheridan-Lucht said.