Collapsed Minnetonka trench was dug by company with past violation

Updated: 3:10 p.m. | Posted: 6:33 a.m.

The company that dug a trench that collapsed Monday morning in Minnetonka, killing one worker and injuring another, paid a fine for a trench safety violation nearly six years ago.

One of the men was unresponsive when firefighters extracted him, Minnetonka Fire Chief John Vance said. The other worker was buried up to his waist and was able to climb out once rescuers dug out the soil around him.

According to the Hennepin County Medical Examiner, Jimmy Scott Klous, 48, of Onamia, died just after 11 a.m. Monday, less an hour after firefighters pulled him from the trench.

Vance said the men were working about 12 to 15 feet below ground in a space that was approximately 6 feet wide. They were not using a trench box, a four-sided rectangular steel enclosure meant to protect against collapse, Vance said.

"It seemed like the soil they were working in was muddy soil and the area that sloughed in on the workers was certainly the wet or muddy soil," Vance said.

He said the 911 call came in at 10:01 a.m.

"We were on the scene within five minutes. And by 10:24, both victims were out of the trench."

Minnetonka city spokesperson Kari Spreeman said Dave Perkins Contracting was responsible for the trench, which the company's workers dug to access water and sewer lines as part of a major utility overhaul on Oakland Road.

The Minnesota Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating the incident.

Records from the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, which enforces workplace safety laws, show the company paid a fine of $1,050 for a trench safety violation in 2010.

The company, which declined comment on Monday's incident, was hired to repair a water line at a home in Mounds View that year. State occupational safety and health inspectors said an employee was exposed to "potential cave-in hazards" at the bottom of a trench that was 5 feet 9 inches deep and just over 9 feet across at the top.

Inspectors said the trench should have been nearly 22 feet across to allow for adequate sloping. According to the DLI documents, inspectors found a trench box at the job site, but it was not in use.

Correction (July 26, 2015): An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported the agency conducting an investigation into the incident. The story has been updated.