a seriously crappy way to go

Father and son die in manure pond at the dairy where they lived

- By JULIANA BARBASSA, AP Writer
Tuesday, March 7, 2006

(03-07) 15:31 PST Fresno, Calif. (AP) --

A dairy worker and his 8-year-old son died in a manure pit after going out at night to feed the calves at the dairy where they lived.

Luis Gutierrez, 27, and his son Luis Armando Gutierrez, ventured out on a dark, overcast night Saturday to check on the animals, investigators said. When they didn't come back, worried family members contacted the owners of Contente Dairy, in Grangeville, then the sheriff's department.

During an all-night search, investigators found Luis Gutierrez's stalled pick-up truck. Deputies believe the father and son got out of the truck and tried to take a shortcut home, stumbling across the manure pond.

Footsteps and signs of slipping near the edge of the 10-foot deep pit seemed to suggest one of them might have fallen in, said Kings Country Sheriff Allan McClain.

The dairy owner, Tony Contente, dredged the pond, and the bodies were pulled out soon after first light on Sunday, McClain said.

"We could see the dad seemed to be doing what he could to reach his son," McClain said. "But this stuff ... if you step in, it sucks you in."

Luis Gutierrez was known as a hardworking family man from Mexico who tried to make it to parent-teacher conferences in spite of his long days at the dairy, said Diane Cox, district superintendent at Union Elementary School.

Teachers and students remember Luis Armando Gutierrez as a smart, active second grader who learned English quickly and was about to get an award for meeting his grade-level reading standard, Cox said.

He was the oldest of four children Luis Gutierrez had with his wife, Maria, 22.

The county coroner is still working on the autopsy, but investigators don't suspect foul play. McClain said the pair may have drowned in the thick, foul-smelling sludge.

It's also possible they might have been overwhelmed with noxious gases emanating from the mixture, as was the case with the three other dairy workers who have died in manure pits in the San Joaquin Valley in the last five years.

One employee at a Merced County dairy was overcome by gases in February 2001 while trying to unclog a pipe at the bottom of a 40-foot pit. His co-worker lost consciousness and died trying to save him.

Another dairy employee asphyxiated while changing a pump in a manure pit in Stanislaus County in November 2003.

Cal-OSHA, the state's workplace safety office, is investigating the incident, spokesman Dean Fryer said.

They'll look into whether there were any barriers around the pond, what the father and son were doing out in that area at night, and what kind of safety training the dairy offered its employees, among other things, Fryer said.

Any possible fees or fines would hinge on the findings, he said.

URL: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2006/03/07/state/n153137S69.DTL