Construction worker sucked into a pipe ends up surrounded by sewage

University Place : WA : USA | Mar 22, 2011 at 2:39 AM PDT

By Stephanie Ealy

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It was a bad Monday for a man who fell into a sewage drain pipe March 21, 2011.

The 37-year old man went into the 85-foot deep shaft to do some work on a sewer line when he somehow unlatched from his safety harness and slid down the pipe.

The Coluccio Construction worker was washed about three quarters of a mile downstream from his original location. He stopped when he was stuck in a 4-foot sewage pipe. He only had 18-inches of breathing room with 15,000 gallons of water per minute rushing by and around him.

Bob Atknson of Pierce County Public Utilities heard the man yelling for help.

"You can imagine what's down there, everything that's in a sewer. Everything's gooey, slimy, smells terrible," Atkinson said.

This is the first incident of its kind in the 27-year history of the plant. L & I is investigating why the construction worker came unhooked from his harness.

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Construction worker is rescued from a sewage pipe.

Stephanie Ealy is based in Tacoma, Washington, United States of America, and is an Anchor for Allvoices.

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