Maritime Accident News

Widow Suing U.S. Government for Diving Accident

The widow of Martin Alvarado is suing the federal government over the death of her husband in a 2007 diving accident.  Martin Alvarado and another diver were killed during a routine inspection at the Dos Amigos pumping facility near Los Banos.  The lawsuit claims that the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation failed to comply with safe diving standards and did not adequately inspect conditions at the plant.

Forty-four-year old Alvarado was excited about his new position as a diver with the California Department of Water Resources.  Even though it was dangerous work, Alvarado was pleased that it paid $9 extra an hour in addition to his salary as a maintenance worker.

“Every time he did it, he liked it, he would come home like, ‘this is fun, babe, look, this is what I did today,’ and he liked it.  It couldn’t tell him not to do it,” said Sara Alvarado, Martin Alvarado’s widow.

One of his first assignments as a diver was to check the Dos Amigos pumping facility for tiny mussels that can clog the system.  Veteran diver, Tim Crawford was also given the same assignment. 

"They went down and they didn't come back up. We just don't know what transpired down there underneath that caused this accident to happen," says Jim Thomas, San Luis field division chief.

There have been several state investigations into the accident, but the exact cause of the incident has yet to be identified.  However, some mistakes were noted.  The plant managers broke the state’s dive policy and failed to turn off one of the pump’s that had a powerful suction.  The safety officer at the pumping plant was difficult to reach.

State investigators did conclude that "the high velocities likely pinned them to the trash rack, where they either exhausted their air supply or their regulators were pulled from their mouths."

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