Community Corner

Anger, Disgust, Blame

A barrage of complaints, allegations and shame were leveled at Tarrytown officials last night over the deaths of Anthony Ruggiero and John Kelly.

The flags are still at half mast, and they will be for the rest of the month, as the village continues to mourn the loss of John Kelly and Anthony Ruggiero. 

But now friends, family members and firefighters are looking for answers and demanding accountability for the deaths of both men, who perished in a village manhole on Labor Day. 

During yesterday's Board of Trustees meeting, community members expressed their disgrace, anger and frustration with village officials over what they say were callous statements made to the press, a lack of regard for safety in the village and an indifference to warnings and training that could have prevented the tragedy. 

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Firefighters, Friends Critical of Village Response

Many of those who spoke at yesterday's board meeting expressed their discontent with the Board of Trustees, Mayor Drew Fixell and Village Administrator Michael Blau. 

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Speakers lambasted officials over comments made on Sept. 9 that appeared to blame Ruggiero and Kelly for failing to follow confined space protocol. At the press conference, Blau said that neither of the men were supposed to head into the manhole that day.

The comments were taken by many to mean that the men had caused their own deaths, and that there was no one else responsible for the accident. 

"You need to apologize to the resident of this town, the firemen and the employees," said John Stiloski, a friend of John Kelly's who also runs Stiloski's Automotive. "The guys in the hole had absolutely zero training... Who is accountable?"

Stiloski's comments were echoed by about ten community members who were also upset at the message the village had conveyed to the press. 

"Were you aware of what he was going to say at the press?" said Felix Sartario to Mayor Drew Fixell. Sartario was one of the firemen who went down the manhole to try and save Kelly and Ruggiero. 

"I feel very sorry that it (comments) hurt people and was viewed as disrespectful and blameful," Fixell said. "I don't believe that was what the intent was."

Fixell urged those commenting to refrain from judgement and placing blame while investigations into the incident continue. Investigations are being conducted by the New York State Department of Labor's Public Employee Safety and Health (PESH) division, the Tarrytown Police Department and the Westchester District Attorney's Office. 

However, many were highly critical of an administration that couldn't hold their tongues before the burials of Ruggiero and Kelly, and before investigations were complete. 

"Before any investigation, everything is being talked about," said Patrick Derivan Sr. a volunteer firefighter and former chief with the department. 

Fixell said that the village was under a lot of pressure from the press to provide information about what had happened. Comments stating that the men were not supposed to go down the manhole were made to the Journal News and News 12 before the village's official press conference on the matter, where the comments were reiterated publicly. 

"It is despicable those words were spoken," said Susan Scogna, a friend of John Kelly's. "What ever happened to 'no comment'? Now you have no comment?" 

"It clearly backfired," Fixell said. "It backfired and it hurt a lot of people and I am sorry for that. It's terrible, none of us are sitting here saying that is great."

Still others questioned the timing. Scogna said she was asked by Kelly's immediate family to request that village officials not attend his funeral. The family was upset by the comments made during the press conference.

Others also said that it was poor judgement to begin assessing what had happened before the men were buried. 

"It's poor taste that the men were not buried," said Steve Wilgermein, who has a son in the fire department. "This should not happen again. It may have been preventable it may not have been."

One common thread remained strong in both the comments from citizens and village officials last night, that both men died in service to the village and each other. 

"John Kelly died a hero, and that's it," said Bill Logan, a firefighter with Riverside Hose Co.

History Shows Warnings Were Ignored

Some speaking at yesterday's meeting said they had been warning the village that a disaster of this kind was coming, and that they had been ignored. 

Former chief of the Tarrytown Fire Department, and a career rescuer in New York City, James Lennox, was one of those who reluctantly spoke during yesterday's meeting. 

"Tonight, I was just going to see what happened, but you gave me the courage to come up here," Lennox said. "You had a chance to fix this problem and you didn't."

In 2005, when Lennox was one of the chiefs of the department, he wrote a letter to the Board of Trustees asking for funds to put the department through confined-space training (see attached letter). Lennox said he was ridiculed in the department and asked to resign by the board at the time, which included current mayor Drew Fixell. Lennox said he was criticized because the training would cost too much and because of the perception that he was trying to turn the department professional.  

"You asked me to sign a letter of resignation and I refused to do it," Lennox said to Fixell. 

Lennox has since moved to Montrose, but watched the Labor Day tragedy unfold on television. In his 2005 letter written to trustees, his first goal cited was to bring the Tarrytown Fire Department up to OSHA standards. He specifically called out confined space and hazardous material training as priorities.

OSHA standards clearly identify that confined space training needs to be provided to employees and rescuers who go into confined spaces such as manholes, especially places that have "atmospheric oxygen concentration below 19.5 percent or above 23.5 percent". Oxygen levels in the deadly manhole on Sept. 6 were around 14 percent – the men are suspected to have died from Hydrogen Sulfide inhalation.

Mike Coffey, the previous chief of the fire department, also sent a note to Blau on April 1, 2010, urging the village to keep up training standards and fulfill federal OSHA mandates for training programs, including confined space training. 

"There is a growing concern among the guys who come out put their gear on and work that there is not going to be training provided next year," Coffey wrote. "If you read up on OSHA requirements, we as employers have the responsibility to properly train members to a certain level for all types of various incidents which we may incur."

Coffey said that village officials needed to take responsibility for what happened, and where the breakdown in communication was regarding an increase in training standards within the fire department and Department of Public Works. 

"It's easy to find a leader and someone responsible when something is going well," Coffey said. "It starts at the top. Take responsibility."

While the village has said it trained 18 DPW workers in confined space procedures, it is not known exactly what those procedures were and what they covered. Those training standards are being investigated by PESH.

PESH Investigation Continues

Investigations into the deadly incident are ongoing, but all eyes are on the New York State Department of Labor's Public Employee Safety and Health (PESH) division, and their review of the accident. 

PESH has been working to recreate the conditions in the sewer at the time to see what caused the ultimate demise of Ruggiero and Kelly, but mostly PESH is looking at the village's confined space program. 

According to Michelle Duffy, a press officer with the NYS Department of Labor, investigations are continuing and making progress. All interviews have been conducted and finalized, but investigators are still reviewing documents and the village's training programs for confined spaces. 

"As part of the investigation, we will look into whether or not they currently had a confined space program," Duffy said. "Right now it's too early in the investigation to reveal our findings."

Duffy did say that in 2007, a routine inspection of all Department of Public Works operations showed that the Village of Tarrytown did not have a confined space program.

"At that time they did not have a confined space program because we were told they don't enter permit-required confined spaces, therefore they did not need a permit," Duffy said.  

The village apparently implemented an 8-hour confined-space training program in 2007. 

Duffy said that training has to be specific to the hazards faced by the employee in a confined space. Therefore, if village employees were entering manholes and confined spaces, they needed to have the exact training for those scenarios. 

"We have completed our interviews and are currently reviewing documents and statements. After that we will formulate our findings. I don't have a time frame yet but rest assured, for the sake of the families and the community, we will be very thorough in our investigation," Duffy said. 

Questions Raised About Village Safety Practices

At Wednesday's meeting, other speakers said that safety in the village DPW was lacking. 

Pat Derivan Sr., also a worker with the State DOT, held up a reflective vest while he spoke to trustees. He said that you could see policemen and crossing guards wearing reflective vests, but DPW workers in the village weren't afforded the same protections.

He said that a similar disregard of safety was evident on Labor Day.

"The situation was way out of control that day," Derivan said. "It was a bad judgement call by the supervisor in charge that day... Two people died because of it."

Raymond Tuohy, of Storm Street, also said that safety was lacking. He said it was astounding that safety could lapse in a village with numerous restrictions on private citizen safety. 

"If I put a picket fence in front of my house, I have to get permits, go to the Planning Board and the Architectural Review Board. If I want to change a wax seal, I have to get a licensed plumber. These are your codes, these are your rules," he said. "To sit there and say the town didn't do anything wrong disgusts me to my soul."

"I work high-rise construction," he said. "If I'm not following safety procedures, I get thrown off the job. That is called responsibly."

Numerous speakers requested that the village bring in an auditor or an outside organization to do a thorough assessment of the village's safety records and procedures. 

"Perhaps the idea of an independent contractor is something we need to do," Fixell said.


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