PORT ANGELES — A state investigation has been launched to look into the circumstances that led to a man being run over by a bulldozer at the shuttered Port Angeles landfill.
Kyle Trussell, 32, a Port Angeles surveyor, remained in critical condition in intensive care at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle on Wednesday, according to a hospital spokeswoman.
His pelvis and legs were crushed when he was run over by an 18-ton Caterpillar D6 bulldozer Monday as he worked on the landfill bluff stabilization project near the Port Angeles Transfer Station at 3501 W. 18th St.
The state Department of Labor and Industries was notified of the injury Monday and has opened an investigation, said Jim Church, spokesman for Labor and Industries, on Wednesday.
The primary focus of the investigation will be on Magnus Pacific environmental construction services of Everett, which is managing the landfill reconstruction project, Church said.
A secondary part of the investigation will look into safety practices by Trussell’s employer, Northwest Territories Inc., a Port Angeles-based survey company, he said.
The city hired Magnus Pacific to manage the $14.4 million project to remove landfill materials near the bluffs, which were in danger of falling into the Strait of Juan de Fuca; relocate the material inland; and reconstruct the bluffs to create a more natural erosion process that feeds the beaches below.
It will take up to six months to complete the investigation, which will include both an inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the injury and an in-depth examination of the company’s safety practices, as well as possible violations, Church said.
Trussell was wearing a safety orange vest and hard hat as he surveyed the slope of a hill when a bulldozer ran over him, according to the Port Angeles Police Department, which launched an initial investigation immediately after he was hurt.
It appeared Trussell was in the bulldozer operator’s blind spot on a hill at the landfill, the police investigation determined.
The bulldozer hit Trussell with the right side of the blade, knocking him to the ground, and ran over him, police said.
Trussell was treated on the scene by the Port Angeles Fire Department and taken to Olympic Medical Center, then flown to Harborview.
There is no intent to cite the driver of the bulldozer, said Officer Brian Stamon.
Evidence reviewed by police on the scene indicate the incident was an accident, with no apparent wrongdoing on the part of the bulldozer operator, Stamon said.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arice@peninsuladailynews.com.
