Hyde Park drain firm indicted in fatal trench collapse
A Boston drain firm and its owner flouted safety regulations that could have saved two employees who died when a trench collapsed and filled with water in October, prosecutors said Wednesday. Then, the owner and company sought to cover up their inaction by forging documents to suggest they’d taken required safety classes, officials said.
Now, Atlantic Drain Services and owner Kevin Otto each face two counts of manslaughter and other charges stemming from the incident’s aftermath, Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said during an afternoon press conference. A grand jury handed up the indictments earlier in the day.
“This isn’t an accident. This isn’t negligence,” Conley said, asserting that Atlantic Drain “willfully, wantonly, and recklessly failed to take the standard safety precautions that could have averted this tragedy.”
The announcement of charges against the troubled company included the first detailed description of what happened Oct. 21 deep beneath Dartmouth Street in Boston’s South End. Atlantic Drain is also the subject of an ongoing probe by the same federal agency that twice fined the company for earlier safety violations.
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