It Could Be Criminal: Company Indicted for Trench Accident that Killed Two Workers

BOSTON, MA — The owner of a company allegedly responsible for the trench accident that killed two workers in Boston last October has been indicted, along with his company.

Kevin Otto and Atlantic Drain are charged with two counts of manslaughter in the workers' deaths, one count of misleading an investigator, and six counts of concealing a record.

Last October, Patch reported that construction workers sobbed and worked frantically, falling on hands and knees with water spraying them in the face as they tried in vain to save two fellow workers stuck in a flooded trench on a Boston street Friday afternoon. A water main break on Oct. 21 caused the flood at a construction site in Boston's South End, killing Kelvin Mattocks, 53, of Brockton, Mass., and Robert Higgins, 47, of Warren, RI.

According to a statement from Suffolk County District Attorney Dan Conley, the men were part of a work crew for Atlantic Drain Services, Inc., and were excavating a trench below Dartmouth Street on Oct. 21. Around noon, the trench gave way, and a fire hydrant collapsed into the hole, which rapidly filled with water.

Within seconds, the men were trapped in the flood of water, dirt, and clay.

"As with all unnatural fatalities within the City of Boston, experienced prosecutors from my office responded to the scene and led the death investigation that followed, overseen by the chief of our Homicide Unit and assisted by Boston Police homicide detectives," read the statement.

"Based on that investigation, the Suffolk County Special Grand Jury a short time ago returned indictments charging Atlantic Drain Services, Inc., and its owner and sole officer, Kevin Otto, each with two counts of manslaughter in connection with their employees’ deaths. The grand jury also returned additional indictments charging the individual and corporate defendants with one count of misleading an investigator under the state’s witness intimidation statute and six counts of concealing a record under the evidence tampering statute. The defendants will be summonsed to Suffolk Superior Court for arraignment at a later date."

The DA's office alleges that Otto and his company "willfully, wantonly, and recklessly failed to take the standard safety precautions" that could have avoided the flood. The office also alleges that Atlantic Drain Services and Otto provided fake records for a federal subpoena in the following investigation.

"On Oct. 21, Mr. Higgins and Mr. Mattocks were doing the work that every thriving city depends on," said the statement. "They were 14 feet underground, connecting a new water and sewer line to a nearby residence – a job that’s crucial to urban development and public health. As they did so, the soil supporting a nearby fire hydrant began to fall away, quickly burying the men up to their waists. The hydrant, no longer supported, collapsed into the earth – and water from the connecting pipe flooded the entire trench over their heads within seconds. Despite the desperate efforts of their co-workers to rescue them, neither man could escape, and both of them died at the scene."

Any excavation deeper than 5 feet and any adjacent utilities have to be "shored up" to prevent cave ins, per federal regulations, meaning wooden planks or metal trench boxes must support the trench. The DA's office claims Otto and Atlantic Drain Services were aware of the regulation, and the dangers of not following it. The company got two OSHA violations in the past decade for failing to follow the regulation.

Conley is calling for the legislature to raise the maximum penalty for a corporate entity convicted of manslaughter, from its current $1,000 cap.

"That amount hasn’t been raised in almost 200 years, and it’s woefully inadequate to the circumstances of this case," said Conley.