CAPE BUSINESSMAN IDENTIFIED

The owner of a Cape Girardeau plumbing and heating business was identified Wednesday as the victim of a construction accident at Jackson, Mo.

Bud Monroe, 66, owner of Monroe Plumbing and Heating, was buried alive while installing a sewer pipe at a residence on Seabaugh Road Tuesday.

In more than 45 years of work, Monroe twice before had been buried alive while working in trenches, said his son, Danny Monroe.

Monroe Plumbing was five days into installing a sewer pipe Tuesday when Bud Monroe was working in the 15-foot-deep trench with his nephew, Troy Thompson.

When the unsupported walls collapsed, Monroe was buried under hundreds of pounds of dirt.

Thompson, who was unhurt, could only watch, Danny Monroe said.

Family members and a few others who make up the company of about 10 people dug frantically with shovels and unearthed Monroe up to his waist by the time firefighters arrived. Unconscious, he was taken by ambulance to Southeast Missouri Hospital, where he died.

Monroe had started his own plumbing business in 1964 after borrowing $1,000 and buying a pickup truck, said his wife, Jo Ann Monroe. Employees were mostly family members, and his business was successful.

"He could have taken it easy a long time ago, but he worked to the end," Danny Monroe said.

The trench, which was approximately 60 feet long and 20 feet wide, had been tapered back a bit, police Lt. Bob Bonney said. However, no wooden or metal supports were used as precautionary measures.

OSHA to investigate

The accident is being investigated by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, said Barbara Theriot, assistant area director in St. Louis.

Trench dangers are a priority for the administration, Theriot said.

"Any time a compliance officer sees someone digging in a trench, he has to stop and examine," she said.

The safety agency will check to see if water is in a trench and if safety precautions have been observed. If not, the possibility of citations exists, Theriot said.

Simple measures such as shoring up trench walls with lumber or metal or using cages designed for digging operations is worth the time and expense, Theriot said.

"Generally people get in a hurry," she said. "People will say they've been doing this for 20 or 30 years and they know when a trench is going to collapse. You can never tell."