Work Resumes on Temescal Canyon Stormwater Project

Work within the trench at the site of the $8 million Temescal Canyon Stormwater Best Management Practices Project in Pacific Palisades resumed March 26 following a collapse that trapped two workers, killing one.

The project was temporarily halted on March 15 for a safety review by the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health. According to Jimmy Tokeshi, spokesman for the Los Angeles Department of Public Works, Cal-OSHA has 180 days to issue its report.

The project's contractor, Convina-based Los Angeles Engineering, is primarily responsible for worker safety. Tokeshi said the contractor was working on the trench for a 30-inch overflow pipeline between a concrete detention tank and flood control channel. 

"Cal-OSHA's concern was that we wanted it safe before anything happened on it," Tokeshi told Patch.

Peter Melton, public information officer with Cal-OSHA, affirmed the move to let work resume, as well as to install a trench shield.

He said a trench shield is a "u-shaped" box with a bottom missing with four-inch thick steel on each side. It has steel pipes in the middle that are four feet by four feet to keep the hole open so the trench does not collapse.

Melton added that Cal-OSHA does not believe a trench shield was in place prior to the fatal accident and it was required by the workplace regulator in order for work to continue.

During the rescue, crews used specialized equipment to shore up the 20-foot-long U-shaped trench, which was up to 15 feet deep and 9 to 10 feet wide, in an effort to free the second trapped man, Gilbert Vargas, but it was too late to save him.

An administrative assistant at Los Angeles Engineering declined to comment to Patch about the investigation.

A correction was made to the original post to attribute findings to Cal-OSHA and not the Department of Public Works. Patch apologizes for the error.

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