ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, July 31, 1996 TAG: 9607310051
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MATT CHITTUM STAFF WRITER
A preliminary report on the accidental electrocution of a 15-year-old in the James River near Buchanan concludes that a pump owned by a mining company had faulty wiring that electrified the area where the boy died.
The report from state Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy inspectors says the 480-volt electrical cable to a river pump, owned by Global Stone James River, had an improper splice located in a stream that emptied in the river.
The report from state Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy inspectors says the 480-volt cable to a pump, owned by Global Stone James River and situated in a stream that emptied into the river, had an improper splice. The stream apparently served as a conductor for the electrical current.
Eric Bowden, of Green Bay, Wis., was fishing near the pump the morning of July 21 when he slipped off a rock into the water and began screaming. His brother and several others tried to pull him out but were shocked when they touched him.
Bowden was pronounced dead a short time later at Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital. Dr. David Oxley, deputy chief medical examiner for Virginia, said electrocution caused the death.
The report said the power line for the pump, which is on the company's property, runs through a culvert that carries the stream to the river. The faulty splice in the cable was about 25 feet from the river, state mine department spokesman Mike Abbott said.
The report also cited the use of improper fuses in the pump's fuse box.
John Michener, Global Stone's vice president and general manager, said his company worked closely with the investigators and called the report's conclusions "logical."
"The report probably characterizes what could have happened and probably did happen," he said. "Maybe we're never going to know exactly what happened, but this sounds plausible."
The mine department issued closure orders for the fuse box and the pump and has closed the entire area, but can do little else under Virginia law in terms of penalizing the company, which quarries limestone.
Inspectors also have the option of referring their findings to the local commonwealth's attorney for possible criminal charges, but that hasn't happened yet, Abbott said.
Federal Mine Safety and Health Administration investigators are also on the case, but aren't expected to complete their report for a few weeks.
Under federal mining laws, a company can be fined $50 to $50,000 for a violation, depending on the seriousness of the violation and the presence of negligence, administration spokeswoman Kathy Snyder said.
While government investigators searched for an answer to how Bowden was electrocuted, Michener said, Global Stone - which bought the former James River Limestone Co. last month - has been exploring why Bowden was on plant property.
Bowden, his brother and some friends signed in with a security guard and were allowed to cross company property to noncompany property on the other side, Michener said.
The company has a contract with Security Forces Inc. to provide plant security. But cutting across company land to fish apparently was a common practice.
Brian Burke, who was with Bowden when he was electrocuted, said he had fished there for seven or eight years. A few weeks ago, he said, he heard a buzzing sound and felt a shock in the same area where Bowden died. Burke went to tell the security guard, but the guard was not in sight, so he left.
``We're reviewing [the security company's] procedures and what we want them to be,'' Michener said.
In addition, a Global Stone safety team has explored the entire Buchanan operation, and power to the operation was shut off for two days while an electrical contractor inspected every circuit, Michener said.
The other circuits had nothing to do with the pump, Michener said, but the accident ``triggered our thinking.''
LENGTH: Medium: 76 lines KEYWORDS: FATALITYby CNB