Search for Source Of Toxic Fumes at Wastewater Plant

An investigation continues into the death of a worker at the Sewickley Wastewater Treatment Plant. Officials say 31 year old Jack Hogan of Baden became faint and fell into a 30-foot shaft. He was pronounced dead at the scene yesterday afternoon. Three other workers at the construction site at the plant tired to rescue Hogan but they were overcome by fumes. Frank Pounds Jr., a worker for Pipeline Systems, remains in fair condition at Allegheny General Hospital. The other two men, plant supervisor Dennis Mike and Sean Haynes, an inspector for the borough's engineering firm, were treated and released. Sewickley Borough manager Kevin Flannery says Hogan was hired in June as an operator trainee, and his wife recently gave birth to a baby girl. The origin of the fumes in the shaft is not clear. But Flannery says emergency workers did detect a small amount of methane gas when they arrived.