Middletown Sewage Treatment Plant Fined $168K After Employee's Death

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — Exactly one year after a local man died in a workplace accident at the Middletown Sewerage Authority, the state of New Jersey has now fined the sewage treatment plant $168,000, after it says it found multiple "willful, serious" and "repeated" safety violations at the plant.

The fines were issued by the Public Employees Occupational Safety and Health (PEOSH). PEOSH is the state agency that investigates when there is an accident or death on a job that is funded by taxpayer money.

The employee who died at the plant was John Molnar, 47, a father of three who lived in Hazlet. The plant is known locally as TOMSA.

Molnar died at the plant on May 31, 2022 after he descended into a 20-foot-deep manhole. As soon as he got to the bottom of the hole, he became disoriented by a lack of oxygen, the state found. He became unconscious, ultimately drowning in the water at the bottom of the hole, despite desperate attempts from multiple employees above ground to pull him back up to safety.

The state said TOMSA failed to provide Molnar with a number of safety protocols before he entered the manhole. PEOSH says Molnar was not provided any of the following before he entered the hole:

• Protective breathing equipment, such as an oxygen mask
• Adequate lighting
• Air quality testing devices that he was trained how to operate
• An emergency radio so he could call for help

TOMSA attorney John Napolitano told the Asbury Park Press last week the sewer authority is still reviewing the report.

"The Authority will take all necessary action to address any safety issues," he said.

PEOSH issued their report and $168K in fines on April 27, and TOMSA has 15 days from there to dispute the fines.

Exactly how John Molnar, of Hazlet, died

The following is an account from the PEOSH report into exactly how Molnar died. Some of his friends/family members may find the following details difficult to read. Molnar was a well-known and longtime Middletown Township employee who grew up in the area.

At 2:21 p.m. on May 31, someone made an emergency 911 call from the sewerage plant, located at 100 Beverly Way in Belford.

Molnar, identified in the state's report as "the employee/victim," was attempting to place a test ball plug into the open end of a pipe that emptied into a manhole.

Very soon after getting to the bottom of the 20-foot-deep manhole, Molnar was overcome by the displacement of oxygen gas inside the deep hole.

"Sensing something was wrong," Molnar tried to climb out of the manhole, with the assistance of another employee on the ground above him. However, as he was trying to climb out of the hole, Molnar passed out and his legs came off the ladder rungs, causing him to fall to the bottom of the manhole.

"Once at the bottom of the manhole, Molnar stood up, disoriented. He turned around and collapsed, landing below the water’s surface at the bottom of the manhole."

Molnar's official cause of death was drowning in the water at the bottom of the hole, the state found.

"The employer did not provide a suitable means of emergency communication," wrote the state. "Through interview statements and security camera video footage from the day of the incident, it was determined that (the worker at the top of the hole) yelled for help from two other employees who were approximately 157 feet away from the manhole. These two employees ran over and attempted to rescue the employee from the bottom of the manhole. It wasn't until the Executive Director (Brian Rischman) arrived on the scene approximately two minutes after the employee fell down the manhole that the 911 call was placed by him."

The state's findings into his death

First of all, said PEOSH, you need to have a permit to enter that kind of manhole, defined by the state as a "confined space." Molnar did not have a permit.

Secondly, "qualified entry supervisors" are supposed to monitor when manholes or confined spaces are entered, said the state. TOMSA had no such supervisors on staff. The last evaluation of manhole safety at the facility was made by a Middletown fire chief "that retired approximately ten (10) years ago," said the state.

PEOSH said TOMSA failed to provide Molnar with any kind of safety breathing equipment, such as an oxygen mask, which could have saved his life.

They also say TOMSA was required by law to test oxygen levels in the manhole before Molnar went inside it, something else they did not do.

"Entry conditions were not continuously monitored in the areas where authorized entrants are working," wrote the state. "When testing for atmospheric hazards, test first for oxygen, then for combustible gases and vapors and then for toxic gases and vapors."

TOMSA did not train its employees in the safe way to enter manholes and finally, "a similar noncompliant entry was performed on May 26, 2022," found the state.

This means that before Molnar passed out from lack of oxygen and died, TOMSA had another employee go down into the manhole just a few days earlier. Similarly, this employee was not given any of the training or protective breathing gear required by the state.

Four of the violations were so egregious that the state ordered TOMSA to pay several $42,000 fines immediately, even though the plant has since rectified them.

As Patch reported, last fall 26 of the TOMSA unionized workers signed a petition saying the Middletown sewage treatment plant is unsafe. They also took a public vote of no confidence in TOMSA management.

"He was not wearing a harness, nothing," Kevin Tauro, CWA Local 1075 president, said last June of Molnar's death. "There is all sorts of protective equipment you are supposed to use when you enter manholes like that; you are supposed to be trained. (They) were never given any of that gear or training."

Tauro said Molnar also "had a meter on him to check for gases, but nobody here was ever properly trained on how to use those meters."

Tauro said the following to the Asbury Park Press last week in light of the PEOSH report:

"It’s a small victory, but it will never bring his life back. It’s sad these people did not follow safety protocol that they should have. He would still be alive today. There’s no question about it."

TOMSA also manages the McClees and Fairview pump stations, which are vital assets to protect Middletown from flooding.

All the Patch reporting on the Middletown Sewerage Authority:

Safety Violations At Middletown Sewerage Authority Addressed By Mayor (Sept. 2022)

'Serious' Safety Violations Found At Middletown Sewerage Authority (Sept. 2022)

Middletown Sewerage Authority Employee Dies After Workplace Fall (June 2022)