Construction worker Killed in Collapsed Well Was Nearing Retirement

Martin Petersen, 61, spent his life digging wells and it was in one of those wells that the Vernon man died tragically on Wednesday

Petersen was part of a construction crew from Stavens Brothers in Willington and the company was digging a well at 125 Hampden Road in Somers when something went wrong.

The crew had already drilled 65 feet down when the earth beneath them collapsed around 1:30 p.m., Somers Fire Chief Frank Falcone Jr. said.

Petersen was swallowed about 15 feet into the 4-foot-wide hole. His co-worker got a rope to Petersen, pulling him up, so his head was above the sand and water, but then Petersen let go and was lost.

Jeff Dion, of Stavens Brothers, was visibly saddened by Petersen’s death.

"His family had owned a well-drilling company in Minnesota," he said. "All he ever did was well drilling."

Petersen was close to retirement, Dion said, and this could have been his last year.

The well, about 50 feet over the line in Hampden, Massachusetts, was already in.

Dion figures something gave way underground, under the spot where Petersen happened to be standing. He did not fall in head-first, said Dion, but as the ground sank beneath him, the hole widened.

After a second failed rescue attempt, the ground was still moving and buried Petersen in dirt and water.

When rescue crews arrived, the earth was still shifting with a 60,000-pound truck and 30-foot drill tower hovering above.

Rescue crews finally reached Petersen around 4:30 p.m., but it was too late, Falcone said. The medical examiner was at the scene and Petersen was pronounced dead.

Stavens Brothers had never before had a fatal accident, Dion said.

"Our safety record is probably in the top 2 percent," he said. "We've seen the ground get depressed before, say six inches in a period of hours," but never a sudden collapse like this.

Hampden police said this was an accident and nothing criminal. The Massachusetts Department of Industrial Accidents is conducting its own investigation using the information Connecticut authorities gave police after they realized the sinkhole was north of the state line.

At Petersen's home, his brother-in-law declined to speak to NBC Connecticut.

Stavens Brothers was able to recover its drilling rig on Thursday morning, even though during the night it had sunk toward the hole.

Source: Jeff Stoecker, LeAnne Gendreau and Doug Greene, NBC Connecticut