Pipeline Worker Dies in Glendale

A 42-year-old construction worker was crushed to death in Glendale on Wednesday when a 5-ton drill being used to lay the controversial Pacific Pipeline shifted off its rails and struck his chest.

The man was identified by his employer as Mitch Williams of Madera. He was working on a segment of pipeline at Broadway and San Fernando Road, along an industrial strip that borders Los Angeles along the Golden State Freeway, when the accident occurred about 10 a.m., investigators said.

California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health, the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office and the Glendale Fire and Police departments dispatched investigators, but said it will be days, at least, before any conclusions can be drawn about the cause of the accident.

Pacific Pipeline Systems is managing construction of the 132-mile crude oil conduit, which will connect oil fields in Kern County to refineries in the Los Angeles Harbor area. ARB Construction of Lake Forest is the project’s prime contractor. Both companies have contractor’s licenses in good standing with the state.

Aside from Williams, no one else was hurt when the drill machine--about the size and height of a twin bed--shifted off its rails, according to investigators.

Williams was a five-year employee of the Walter C. Smith Co., which was subcontracted by ARB Construction to install 20-inch pipes beneath roadways and railroad tracks. “He was a very competent person, the most competent,” said Mike Debenedetto, a Smith vice president. “Mitch was the foreman in charge of that machine.”

He had a wife and children, Debenedetto said.

Although police said Williams died immediately, “his co-workers attempted to provide CPR, but it was a futile effort,” said David Starr, Glendale Fire Department battalion chief.

According to Cal/OSHA records, the Smith company has been cited seven times since 1993, mostly for minor paperwork violations and not for any serious infraction.

The section of pipeline from Hubbard Street in San Fernando to the Glendale Freeway has been under construction since November, said Darryl Oscars, ARB field safety manager.

“It’s been a very safe project up till now,” he said. “We’re still very stunned by it.”

The pipeline generally follows the Golden State Freeway from Kern County to the San Fernando Valley, then runs along the Union Pacific Railroad right-of-way until it reaches refineries in El Segundo, Wilmington and Long Beach. When completed, the $170-million pipeline will carry 130,000 barrels of heated crude oil daily.

Williams’ death was the first associated with the year-old pipeline project, the subject of a seven-year battle. Critics have accused planners of routing the pipeline through predominantly poor and minority neighborhoods.

The Los Angeles City Council initially opposed the construction project, with opponents arguing that the pipeline would hurt minority communities by exposing them to potentially toxic substances, among other problems. The council also questioned the idea of building a pipeline near water supplies that fill 75% of Los Angeles’ needs.

But state environmental reports say high-technology systems will monitor pipeline operation and make oil transportation more efficient and environmentally safer by eliminating the need for about 25,000 round-trips a year in trucks, tankers and trains.

Johnson is a Times staff writer and Steinman a correspondent.