This article was posted 03/06/2009 and is most likely outdated.

Jury orders Ameren to pay $2.3 million to families of teens
 

 

Subject - Jury orders Ameren to pay $2.3 million to families of teens

March 6, 2009
This newsletter was sent to 22034 newsletter subscribers
Ask a Question |  Weekly Code Graphic |  Quizzes |  Free Stuff |  Instructors | Online Training |  Products | Seminars | Subscribe | Unsubscribe
[ image1 Post Comments | View Comments | Notify Me When Comments Are Added ] Web Page Version [Printer-Friendly]    

Jury orders Ameren to pay $2.3 million to families of teens

Mike,

Here is the newspaper article concerning the electric shock drownings. You will notice the comments at the bottom are heavily weighted in the favor of AmerenUE. That’s because the article merely states that the line under the lake was the cause. Nothing was said that it wasn’t the underground energized lines that were the problems but rather the non-existent concentric neutrals at two locations right at the lake. As I mentioned to you I will write up a summary of all of the tests that I made along with the irrefutable conclusions, hopefully in a week or so. I’ll send you a copy when completed. I appreciate your help in this. Sometimes I feel like Don Quixote fighting the windmills with a wooden sword, but at last we have managed to get the word out that these stray currents are dangerous.

Don Johnson

Mike Holt’s Comment: Don Johnson was the electrical engineer representing the families.

image

March 5, 2009 - Attorney Brooks Kenagy, center, hugs Tracy and Ginger Jones outside the Jefferson County Courthouse. The Joneses own the house on Spring Lake south of De Soto where four teenagers were injured three years ago. The jury found in favor of the three families involved in a lawsuit against Ameren UE. The teenagers jumped off Jones's dock into electrified water. (J.B. Forbes /P-D)

ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
03/06/2009

HILLSBORO — Families of three teenagers involved in an electrical accident three years ago wept and embraced Thursday as they heard a Jefferson County jury recommend that AmerenUE pay them a combined $2.3 million.

On March 18, 2006, Nic Harbison, then 16, Morgan Milfeld and Tim Fitzpatrick, both then 15, and Joshua McClure, then 18, jumped into Spring Lake just south of De Soto. The teens had been sitting in a hot tub at a friend's home in the Summer Set subdivision, about 5 miles south of De Soto. Shortly after hitting the water, the teens became immoblized by an electric current.

Nic Harbison drowned, the others were resucitated.

Harbison's father, Jerry "Jay" Harbison, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Tracy and Ginger Jones, who owned the dock from which the kids jumped, and against AmerenUE. He dropped the suit against the Joneses in October.

Milfeld and Fitzpatrick also filed suits against Ameren for injuries they suffered.

The cases against the utility company were tried together over nine days. The jury deliberated for 1 ½ days and voted 9-3 in finding that Ameren's cable under the lake caused the current that paralyzed the swimmers.

The jury awarded $1.25 million to the Harbisons; $725,000 to Fitzpatrick and $350,000 to Milfeld. Fitzpatrick is now 18 and a senior at De Soto High School. Milfeld, 19, plays soccer for Webster University.

AmerenUE spokeswoman Susan Gallagher said the company does not plan to make any changes to the underground cable at the lake in light of the jury's decision.

"We do not believe our electrical facilities present any hazards," she said, adding that the company has not decided whether to appeal the ruling.

AmerenUE attorney James Virtel brought in experts and utility company employees who testified that the dock was the source of the stray voltage that immobilized the teens.

"We appreciate the jury's hard work and attention, but we're very disappointed in their decision," Virtel said. "We believe from the evidence and the science of electricity that our underground system did not cause the electricity in the water that immoblized these teenagers."

Lawyers Maurice Graham, Michael Williams and Brooks Kenagy represented the families.

"It was obviously a difficult decision for the jury as evidenced by requiring two days of deliberation," Graham said. "The Fitzpatrick, Milfeld and Harbison families are relieved to have this behind them."

As an expression of that relief, some family members gathered on the dock after the verdict and threw flowers into the water.

By Christine Byers

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/stlouiscitycounty/story/E2257DB6FC27C882862575710017D280?OpenDocument

Click here to post a comment
[ View More Newsletters ] [ Send to a Friend ] [ Post Comments | View Comments | Notify Me When Comments Are Added ]

Copyright © Mike Holt Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved.
This article is protected by United States copyright and other intellectual property laws and may not be
displayed or published on the internet without the prior written permission of Mike Holt Enterprises, Inc.

http://www.MikeHolt.com     1-888-NEC-CODE (1-888-632-2633)

Experiencing a Problem? Click Here
 
Comments

  • Don, We did check the dock thoroughly and there were no problems with the wiring. Also the initial stray voltage measurements were taken just a few days after the accident by the electric utility. They measured instantaneous voltage measurements of 4.2 volts from the dock ground to the water. These measurements were taken during the middle of the day when the load currents and the resulting stray voltages were at the lowest. Then 10 days after the accident the electric utility placed a recording voltmeter and recording ammeter in numerous locations including from the water to the dock grounding system. During this recording period they measured voltage surges up to 8.6 volts and current surges up to 1.4 amps. All of these measurements were taken with the dock energized. Approximately November of 2006 the dock wiring was totally removed and the dock was even moved to a slightly different spot approximately 20 feet north of its original location. During my measurements the following year I measured up to 6.2 volts on my recording voltmeter using a 500 ohm shunt resistor from a ground rod stuck off the end of the dock into the lake water and bed back to the electric utility ground. This measurement occurred during the evening hours when the electric load was the highest. There were also multiple measurements well above 5 volts. Since the dock wiring was not even installed these stray currents and resulting voltages could not have been coming from the dock. As I mentioned previously using the human body resistance of 300 ohms when immersed in water and using the starting level of current through the human body necessary to cause loss of muscle control of 6 milliamps as specified in OSHA tables, the resulting voltage necessary to cause loss of muscle control is only 1.8 volts. As you can see my measurements were well above that level and the only possible source was the stray currents in the lake. It was also very evident from numerous other measurements that I made all around the lake that the lack of concentric neutrals in two strategic locations under and near the lake was the cause. These measurements were shown to the jury and obviously they were convinced that the electric utility was at fault. The electric utility continued to blame the dock for these currents even though we showed the same high currents and voltages even without the dock even being wired. Jim Shaefer is correct in that improperly wired docks can be a cause of stray currents in the water, resulting in electric shock drownings, but stray currents as a result of poor electric utility concentric neutral return current paths can also be a cause. Such was the case in this instance.


    • Reply from: Bilton Bryan   
    Very thorough coverage, but am I to understand that when the Dock was wired it did have some stray voltage effects? I ask this because your readings were lower then the dock was unconnected.

    Reply from: Don Johnson P.E.   
    Bilton, As far as I could tell the dock had no contribution to the stray voltage at all other than it was such a good ground tied back into the utility grounding system it actually attracted the currents in the lake. The currents did vary continually throughout the year and also varied as the seasonal loads changed on the electric utility system. In addition when the accident happened there had been a lot of rainfall several days preceding the accident. This caused the lake to be quite muddy which typically causes the water to be more conductive. All of these factors contributed to the accident. The main thing to realize is that according to my research a voltage as low as 1.8 volts is all that is necessary to cause of muscle control (6 ma @ 300 ohms body resistance). With the dock disconnected my measurements reached nearly 6.2 volts to ground in the vicinity of where the kids were swimming. The only possible source was the electric utility earth return currents.

Reply to this comment
* Your Name:
   Your name will appear under your comments.

* Your Email:
   Your email address is not displayed.
* Comments:

Email Notification Options:
Notify me when a reply is posted to this comment
Notify me whenever a comment is posted to this newsletter