(EPHRATA, WA) -- Three employees remain at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle following last week’s accident at Grant PUD’s Priest Rapids Dam which hospitalized six power-plant electricians and operators.
Over the past weekend, two employees were discharged, one remains in satisfactory condition, one remains in critical condition, and one has improved to serious condition.
“I can think of nothing worse than one of our employees not returning home to see their family at the end of a workday. We continue to rally around these employees and their families to provide whatever support we can,” said Grant PUD General Manager Tony Webb.
A support fund has been established at Granco Federal Credit Union in Ephrata, Washington for the injured employees and their families. Those interested in making a contribution can do so by sending a donation to Granco Credit Union at: PO Box 127 Ephrata, WA 98823 or in person at their Ephrata location: 217 Alder St. SW Ephrata WA 98823. All donations should be earmarked “Priest Rapids Family Fund.”
Inspectors from the Washington Department of Labor and Industries were on site last week to begin what will likely be weeks of investigation into the cause of an electrical equipment failure in the Priest Rapids Dam power plant. The equipment failure was isolated to one of ten generating units at the dam. The main circuit breaker, which acts as an on-off switch for the generating unit, malfunctioned, causing the employees to be injured. The generating unit will not operate again until the investigation is finished.
The dam is stable and remains in operating condition. There are no associated public safety issues or downstream flooding impacts. The results of the investigation will be provided to commissioners upon completion.
Additional informational updates related to this incident will be provided during Grant PUD public meetings on the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month.
