Work Resumes on Metro Rail

With industrial-strength fans in place, workers returned Wednesday to three Metro Rail subway stations after diesel fumes five days ago forced construction on the underground tunnels to be halted. The new ventilation system is designed to force fresh air into the two ends of the 4.4-mile Red Line, at Union Station and at the Wilshire-Alvarado station, while exhaust fans at the 7th and Flower streets station, in the middle, push air out. About half the Red Line remained closed awaiting activation of more fans.

Cal-OSHA, which ordered the tunnels closed last Thursday after workers complained of noxious fumes from diesel-powered machinery, has agreed to allow the project to reopen, segment-by-segment, as fans are installed and ventilation improved, said Ed McSpedon, president of the Rail Construction Corp. It was unclear when diesel equipment would be readmitted. The RCC, which oversees construction of the $3.9-billion subway for the county Transportation Commission, hoped to have additional fans running at the Civic Center station by today, which would allow the remaining portion of the system to be opened.

“The push here has been to find every fan we could in the country and get it here,” McSpedon said. A total of 390 workers have been returning to the job gradually. The ventilation trouble was only the latest in a series of problems plaguing the Metro Rail, including a devastating fire a year ago.