Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Sheehan employee killed in Rockies Express construction accident

SHELBYVILLE, Ind. – Funeral services were held April 5 in Baxter, Tenn., for Randy Lynn Gardner, 46, who died while working on construction of the Rockies Express Pipeline in Decatur County, Ind.
Gardner died on April 1 at an Indianapolis hospital after being crushed by a rig mat on the construction job.
An account has been set up at Fifth Third Bank In Shelbyville, in care of Shelly Davis, for those who wish to make donations on behalf of Randy Lynn Gardner.
A spokesman for the pipeline's general contractor, Sheehan Pipe Line Construction Co. of Tulsa, Okla., told The Shelbyville News that the accident occurred about eight miles northwest of Greensburg, Ind.
"This is like a loss in the family, because it is a tightly knit industry, and the loss of anyone in it is like the loss of a family member and it affects us very deeply," said Leonard Pataki, director of administration and general counsel for Sheehan. "The pipeline industry is a close-knit business. We have third-generation people working for the company. Many people knew him. It's a tragedy. From our perspective, we've lost a member of the Sheehan family."
Pataki said the last time the pipeline company experienced a fatality was in June 2007 in Utah near the Utah-Wyoming border, when a Sheehan truck driver was involved in rollover accident.
Shortly after the accident occurred in which Gardner was fatally injured, a pipeline worker called a local newspaper to express safety concerns about the project. He said there were three incidents two days before the fatal accident that could have resulted in serious injuries, and there have been other close calls before the April 1 fatality.

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