Official IDs Worker Found Dead at Ashburn Quarry: Media Report

Photo: DC Randall L. Shank, @LCFR_DC_OPS

An 18-year-old worker was found dead Tuesday morning at an Ashburn quarry, 24 hours after an 80-foot silo collapsed on him, according to the Loudoun County fire department.

An official with the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) has identified the worker as Daniel Potter, WUSA-TV Channel 9 reported Tuesday.

A Channel 9 reporter tweeted that his body has been removed from the quarry.

Fire and rescue crews from Loudoun County and Fairfax County worked through the night and early morning searching for the missing young man, last seen working in the area of a collapsed silo at the Luck Stone quarry, according to Laura Rinehart, a spokeswoman with the Loudoun County Department of Fire, Rescue & Emergency Management.

They had hoped to find the young man alive in a void within the rubble from the spill, Loudoun County Assistant Fire Chief Keith Johnson told Channel 9. But at about 6:30 a.m. Tuesday, crews located his body, trapped inside the sand plant silo under tons of mineral filler and metal equipment.

“The structure inside that silo has become flattened out and all that supporting structure was found on top of him,” Johnson said.

Johnson said the worker’s parents were at the quarry awaiting word of their son, according to media reports. Potter was from Front Royal, radio station WTOP reported.

The Loudoun County fire departnent was initially called at about 6:30 a.m. Monday to the Luck Stone Quarry, off Belmont Ridge Road. The 80-foot-tall sand plant silo spilled tons of a fine material called mineral filler, used in asphalt, across the quarry yard, at 201210 Luck Lane.

A plant manager said Potter was unloading material from the silo into a truck when the silo “split,” according to WRC-TV Channel 4.

Initial reports said that he was 19 years old, but media reports on Tuesday morning stated that Potter’s 19th birthday was in a few weeks, and that he had worked at the quarry for about two months.

Charlie Luck, president and CEO of the family-owned firm that operates the quarry, issued a statement Tuesday extending his condolences to the worker’s family, Channel 9 reported.

“We are a family here at Luck Companies and today we lost a family member,” he said. “Our hearts go out to the associate’s family and they will remain in our thoughts and prayers. We will be remembering, honoring and celebrating the associate for the contributions and positive impact he made on our company.”

Upon arrival at the quarry Monday morning, rescuers went to work quickly, trying to find the employee. With the assistance of the Town of Leesburg’s vacuum truck, crews cleared debris from around the silo structure.

Two search-and-rescue dogs also looked for the victim, Rinehart said in a statement, and crews used listening devices to detect any sounds that might come from beneath the rubble. Assistance was also provided by the Montgomery County, Md., Urban Search and Rescue Team.

But at 9 a.m., the search had to be suspended because the collapsed silo was deemed to be unsafe by a strucutral engineer, Rinehart said.

“The instability of the large steel structure prevented firefighters from operating in close proximity due to the potential for further collapse,” she said. Heavy cranes and support equipment were brought to the quarry to stabilize the silo and allow the search to continue. The equipment arrived at about 3 p.m.

At 7:50 p.m. Monday night, the silo was adequately stabilized allowing search and rescue operations to resume, Rinehart said. “After almost eleven hours of searching, the victim’s body was located and firefighters began the process of removing him from the badly damaged structure.”

The accident is being investigated by the Mine Safety and Health Administration and the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy. Virginia labor officials and the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office are also investigating the accident, according to Rinehart.