Stop work order issued at construction site of trench collapse in Valley Cottage
Construction work has come to a halt in Valley Cottage after a trench collapse left a 25-year-old Orange County man with life-threatening injuries.
Construction work has come to a halt in Valley Cottage after a trench collapse left a 25-year-old Orange County man with life-threatening injuries.
It happened on Tuesday afternoon, around 3:15 p.m., near Smith Street and Route 9W in Valley Cottage. According to the Clarkstown Police Department, their early investigation shows the construction worker from Newburgh was working when trench walls collapsed, trapping him in a "significant amount of soil."
Police say the man’s coworkers were able to pull him out before officers got there.
Rich Greer. of Rockland Paramedic Services. was one of the first responders at the scene.
“We found him in very critical condition. Head injury. Chest injuries. Labored breathing,” Greer said. “So it was very critical to get him out of that location, which was deep into the construction site.”
Greer said that once the worker was in the ambulance, paramedics immediately began life-saving measures.
“My partner and I were able to get some IVs going, intubate him, get some oxygen in him because out in the field there, where the construction was, he was getting no oxygen at all and we needed to get an airway maintained,” he explained.
The worker was initially taken to Montefiore Nyack Hospital before being transferred to Westchester Medical Center for further treatment. There has been no update on his condition, but we are working to find that out as well as his identity.
The construction project is for the Crystal Lake condominiums. Town documents from 2023 show it is expected to have 12 buildings -30 units - on a little more than 6 acres.
News 12 saw Clarkstown inspectors at the site Wednesday.
Clarkstown Supervisor George Hoehmann said the town’s building department has issued a stop-work order and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, OSHA, has also been notified.
OSHA says they are investigating and have up to six months to complete it. Until then, they cannot provide additional details.
Clarkstown police continue to conduct their own investigation.
News 12 saw no work being done Wednesday.
News 12 attempted to reach the person believed to be the developer of the project but has not yet received a response, and is also working to learn which construction company it is.
