Sylmar Tunnel Disaster - Los Angeles, CA
Posted by: 
CraigBaker
N 34° 03.322 W 118° 14.187
11S E 385887 N 3768984
Honoring The Lives of 17 workers killed in 1971.
Waymark Code: WM15TCH
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 02/22/2022
Views: 4
Historical plaque inscription:
On June 24, 1971, an explosion and fire took the lives of seventeen construction workers building a tunnel in Sylmar, California. The tunnel was being built for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California by the Lockheed Shipbuilding and Construction Company. The 5.5 mile, 18-foot diameter tunnel was intended to carry water from the State Water Project into Southern California. To this day, it remains one of the worst tunnel disasters in California and it led to passage of the toughest mining and tunnel regulations in the country.
The memorial is dedicated to the men who lost their lives that day, Metropolitan employee Louis Richardson, Sr. and the sixteen Lockheed employees, the sole survivor Ralph Brissette and the emergency responders who risked their own lives.
Forrest Aldridge · William I. Ashe · Robert E. Ballow · Danny Blaylock · Jose Carrasco · Willie Carter · Ronald Demo · Paul John Drobot · Mike Gutierrez · Gary A. Nichols · Russell Overstreet · Jonas V. Peters · Louis L. Richardson Sr. · William J. Snodgrass · Alvin H. Spreen · Robert K. Stovers · Robert W. Warner
Additional information:
After the Feb 9, 1971 Sylmar Earthquake, the amount of methane gas seeping into the tunnel construction site increased, but the ventilation system was not upgraded to handle it. The construction contractor ignored warnings by the safety inspector. A small explosion happened the day before the deadly explosion.
The memorial marker is located in the courtyard of the Metropolitan Water District building near Union Station. The sealed portal of the abandoned tunnel and stacked concrete water pipe sections can be seen from Fenton Ave near Maclay Street in Sylmar, 30 miles north of the marker.
Read more: The Sylmar Tunnel Disaster, a book by Janette Zavattero.
Disaster Date: 06/24/1971
Date of dedication: 12/09/2013
Memorial Sponsors: Metropolitan Water District of Southern California
Disaster Type: Technological
Relevant Website: [Web Link]
Parking Coordinates: Not Listed
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