Cal-OSHA probing Yuba Water, security firm after deluge from Colgate pipe rupture
California workplace safety inspectors have opened an investigation into the Yuba Water Agency and Elite Universal Security in response to a penstock rupture above the New Colgate Powerhouse earlier this month that led to helicopter rescues of five workers, including one who was hospitalized with serious injuries.
A California Division of Occupational Safety spokesperson confirmed in an email Thursday night that an inspection had begun. The agency has up to six months to complete the inspection and may issue citations if it finds that workplace safety regulations were violated.
Cal-OSHA will not provide additional information while the investigation is active, the spokesperson said.
The milelong, 14-foot-diameter pipeline, which conveys water from a roughly 4-mile mountainous tunnel connected to the reservoir behind New Bullard Bar Dam, ruptured on the afternoon of Feb. 13. The pipeline had been under repair for several months prior to the incident, and water agency officials said it was being prepared for future testing when the rupture occurred.
The workers were at the powerhouse at the time of the incident and were rescued after rushing water washed away parts of the road leading to the riverside plant. There were 10 people on site; five evacuated by road or by hiking out. Of the five rescued by helicopter, three were water agency employees and two were contract workers, said DeDe Cordell, a Yuba Water spokesperson.
“We met with the Cal-OSHA investigator yesterday,” Willie Whittlesey, Yuba Water general manager, said in an email. “We were and will continue to be transparent with their staff and will fully cooperate with their investigation.”
The worker who was hospitalized initially went missing for several hours before being spotted and rescued by a helicopter crew. He was a contracted security guard on site and has since been released from the hospital, Cordell said.
Elite Universal Security, headquartered in Olivehurst, provides security guard and patrol services and has offices in Chico and Redding.
Michael Hahn, president of Elite Universal Security, said he could not comment on open investigations.
Water agency officials continue to assess the extent of the fallout and said the agency could face years of recovery and millions of dollars in lost revenue as the hydroelectric power plant remains damaged and offline.
The washed-out road and instability of the hillside kept engineers and officials from accessing the power plant and an adjacent Pacific Gas & Electric Co. switchyard for more than a week. They reached the site by helicopter this week and found the inside of the powerhouse, while damaged, had not been “fully inundated by water or mudslides,” according to a news release.
“There is significant damage, but we had feared worse,” Whittlesey said in the release. “We have a massive job ahead of us to restore safe access to the powerhouse facility and get the power plant back into working condition.”
The deluge of water — nearly the full tunnel’s worth — flooded down the hillside and through the site of the powerhouse, pushing earth and debris into the North Yuba River. Workers and environmental crews have worked since the incident to clear the river and the downstream Englebright Reservoir, into which the debris was flushed, of the wreckage.
The state Office of Spill Prevention and Response, in a Thursday night statement, said 840 cubic yards of oily debris has been removed and cleanup was expected to continue through the weekend.
