NEWS

Deep Rock Tunnel worker died from 'crushing' injury to the head, coroner says

Bill McCleery
bill.mccleery@indystar.com

A contract worker who was killed Friday in an accident inside Citizen Energy's Deep Rock Tunnel project died after his head was crushed, Marion County's chief deputy coroner said Monday.

William "Isaac" Simpson died of "massive crushing blunt force traumatic injury of the head," said Alfarena Ballew, chief deputy Marion County coroner. Simpson's manner of death has been ruled an accident, she added.

The 25-year-old contractor was at the far end of a massive underground sewer project 250 feet beneath Indianapolis when the accident happened between 3 and 4 a.m., officials said.

Exactly what happened and how he sustained the fatal injury was still unclear Monday.

A representative for the Indiana Occupational Safety and Health Administration said it could be two or three months before an investigation is complete.

"The investigation is not only of the work site but of everything that led up to the moment that the incident took place," said Chetrice Mosley, an IOSHA spokeswoman. "From our perspective, the site needs to be maintained for the integrity of the investigation."

Mosley said no work can be performed in the part of the tunnel where Simpson was killed until IOSHA investigators release the site back to Citizens Energy. She added that it would be up to Citizens officials to determine if other work away from the investigation area will be performed during the probe.

Citizens Energy spokeswoman Sarah Holsapple said that although the Deep Rock Tunnel job site has been cleared to reopen, it will remain closed for now out of respect for Simpson's family and the friends who worked alongside him.

Citizens Energy has said that no additional information would be given on the accident itself until the investigation is complete.

Simpson was employed by Shea-Kiewit Joint Venture, a contractor hired by Citizens Energy as part of the utility's Deep Rock Tunnel project on the city's Southwestside.

Robert Dittmer, an IOSHA spokesman, said late Friday that Shea-Kiewit has no record of workplace safety violations involving the Deep Rock project or anywhere else in the state.

Attempts to reach Shea-Kiewit on Monday were unsuccessful. The company issued a statement late Friday saying the company was "deeply saddened" by Simpson's death.

Simpson, a 2007 graduate of Hamilton Heights High School, was part of a crew doing excavation work near the end of the 7-mile-long tunnel, near West and Raymond streets, when he died.

Eight to 10 other workers who were present at the time are OK, officials said.

Call Star reporter Bill McCleery at (317) 444-6083. Follow him on Twitter: @BillMcCleery01.