Updated at 12:04 p.m.
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – The body of a machine operator who had been dredging a pond on TransAlta mine property outside Centralia was recovered yesterday after a barge and 72-foot dredge sank the evening before.
The worker has been identified as 28-year-old Caleb D. Brown, of Winlock.
Investigators from the Mine Safety and Health Administration were onsite looking into the incident, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies and fire personnel were dispatched to the area off the 1000 block of Big Hanaford Road at 7:52 p.m. on Saturday after workers lost contact with the operator and discovered the barge was underwater, according to the sheriff’s office. The area was searched but the employee was not found, sheriff’s Chief Deputy Bruce Kimsey said.
Divers from Thurston County arriving about 9 a.m. yesterday located the operator deceased inside the cab of the machine about 2:40 p.m., according to Kimsey. The 150,000 pound piece of equipment was about about 20 feet below the surface of the pond.
Mining operations at TransAlta ceased several years ago, but a contractor has been dredging the mud in the pond to reclaim coal, according to Kimsey. The contractor is operating as Coalview Centralia LLC, according to Kimsey.
Kimsey described the apparatus as having been held in place by a cable on each end that runs to the shore and powered by a high voltage line.
He said deputies learned that a supervisor last heard radio contact from Brown at about 7:30 p.m. on Saturday and about 15 minutes later, Brown’s co-workers noticed they were not receiving material from the dredge and found the power was off.
They checked and found the barge had sunk, according to Kimsey.
The Lewis County Coroner’s Office has scheduled an autopsy for Wednesday.