Grand River Dam Authority confirms explosion at Oklahoma dam killed two out-of-state contract workers

MAYES COUNTY, Okla. (KFOR) – The Grand River Dam Authority confirmed that two contract staff died in an explosion on the Robert S. Kerr Dam.

The explosion occurred at about 6 p.m. Thursday in an 80-foot-deep inside inspection shaft the place staff from DA Smith Drilling, based mostly out of Colorado, had been performing ongoing upkeep, based on a GRDA information launch.

Two of the three DA Smith Drilling staff died. The employee who survived suffered non-life-threatening accidents and was transported to an area hospital for analysis. The names of the employees haven’t but been launched.

Rescue crews recovered the our bodies of the 2 deceased staff, each males, from the inspection shaft at roughly 4:30 a.m. Friday, the information launch states.

Preliminary outcomes from an ongoing investigation present {that a} pocket of naturally occurring gasses prompted the explosion, “which isn’t unusual in geological formations,” based on the information launch.

“GRDA authorities affirm Kerr Dam is secure and at no danger of extra damages,” the information launch states.

Robert S. Kerr Dam is a hydroelectric facility at Lake Hudson, constructed by GRDA and accomplished in 1964. It produces 128 megawatts of electrical energy a 12 months.

GRDA contracted Oklahoma State College Pickens’ Faculty of Geology to check Kerr Dam’s inside base, “the place scouring is clear as a consequence of current flood occasions,” the information launch states.

OSU sub-contracted DA Smith Drilling as specialists within the subject of core drilling to evaluate the concrete integrity and bedrock contact at dams after pure fuel was detected.

“Security for our GRDA staff, and for individuals who carry out work at our services, is our primary precedence,” mentioned GRDA’s Govt Vice President John Wiscaver. “Our emergency response workforce relied on the experience of Tulsa Fireplace Division’s Technical Rescue and Claremore Fireplace Division’s HazMat responders to help with the rescue and restoration. All of us are enormously saddened by this final result.”