By:Rebecca Shalomoff
Federal officials are investigating why a 5,000-pound sheet of metal fell on the plant manager at New York Depot Corp., killing him Aug.9.
Police said that Jose Carlos Forte, 32, of Rosedale was on the ground directing the movement of a steel plate attached by chain to an excavator at the plant in Inwood that recycles soil.
Witnesses said the chain either snapped or slipped off, causing the 8-by-20 foot roadway plate to drop on Forte's head at about 9:15 a.m.
"As they were lifting it up, the chain wasn't secured properly, so it fell down and crushed him," said Det. Sgt. William Cocks of the Nassau County Homicide Squad. "It's a tragedy."
The employee operating the machine was able to get the plate off Forte, and Mike Grottola, who was hired last week to complete on-site crushing of cement, ran up the dirt mound to perform CPR on Carlos, as Forte was known.
"He had no vital signs. I didn't feel a pulse, so I gave him light CPR and he started breathing again," Grottola said.
He said he poured ice on Forte's chest and wrapped a tourniquet around his head to stop the bleeding from the only visible wound. Grottola said Forte was still breathing when he carried him into the ambulance.
No one else was injured, police said.
Forte was rushed to St. John's Episcopal Hospital in Far Rockaway, where he was pronounced dead at 9:55 a.m. A funeral was held on Monday morning at St. Charles Cemetery in Farmingdale. His family could not be reached for comment.
"He was close to me like my brother," said New York Depot owner Joseph Aragona. "He's been a friend for 17 years. Carlos was a construction specialist second to no one. This accident is something I will be trying to figure out for a while."
Aragona said Forte, who was born in Portugal, is survived by his wife.
"I only met him last week, but he was so nice," Grottola said. "It was a freak accident for a guy who didn't deserve it."
The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is investigating the cause of the accident.
"Typically, these kinds of investigations could take up to six months," said OSHA area director Harvey Shapiro. "We try to go as slowly as possible, looking for if whatever happened were violations of OSHA."
If there were violations, OSHA would issue citations against New York Depot, which would probably be accompanied by penalties, Shapiro said.
"I hope that OSHA does a complete investigation into the entire operation of the facility because there are numerous occupational and health hazards on that site," said Inwood resident Elisa Hinken, a main opponent of the plant.
The site on which New York Depot operates is owned by the state Department of Transportation.The plant has been beset by many problems during the past year. Last July, neighbors took the Depot to court over the environmental concerns about the mountain of dirt on the site at 2 Bay Blvd. They are concerned that dust blowing off the roughly 40 feet high pile of dirt may be noxious. That question has delayed the Town of Hempstead from granting Aragona a permit to operate on the Inwood site.
On Aug. 3, the Department of Environmental Conservation made a surprise inspection, said DEC spokesman Bill Fonda.
"The DEC issued them a warning regarding dust abatement operations for not using a sprinkler system to keep the dust wet," Fonda said. "If it happens again, the Depot could get a notice of violation and have to pay a fine."
The piles of dirt are also not to exceed 30 feet, but Fonda said the DEC gave the Depot permission to remain at 40 feet while it makes room for a new crusher device that will grind up concrete. After that, the pile heights will have to be in compliance.
Fonda added that if the facility is operating without a town building permit, then it is up to the Town of Hempstead to enforce compliance, not the DEC.
Another public hearing before the Board of Zoning Appeals about the dirt mountain has been scheduled for 3 p.m. Sept. 12, at the Town Hall Pavilion on Washington Street in Hempstead.
The Department of Transportation required Aragona to post a $500,000 bond to guarantee that the mountain of dirt will be removed in the event that the recycling company vacates the property.
"My facility has gotten shortchanged over the past seven months," Aragona said. "I can't understand why."
