I-Team: Who's investigating Raleigh demolition mishap?
RALEIGH (WTVD) -- The ABC11 I-Team investigates Tuesday's demolition accident in Raleigh that caused damage at a neighboring business in Raleigh's Glenwood South area.
We wanted to know what government agency is investigating, what happened, how it happened, and how to prevent it in the future.
The company doing the demolition, Triangle-based Environmental Holdings Group, is a major player in the business. They have a good track record when it comes to occupational safety and health with only three relatively minor violations in the past ten years.
An eyewitness to Tuesday mishap says the company took precautions before pieces of a wall ended up on a neighboring business -- a bar called "C. Grace."
"They put people at both ends of the block and made sure there's nobody close by," said witness Crash Gregg. "Yesterday, before they did the big piece with C. Grace, they went inside to make sure nobody was in. I think there was one guy cleaning stuff, told him to leave."
It's a good thing because according to a statement from the company "blowback" from the demolition caused debris to crash through the roof of the building next door doing major damage that's keeping two bars closed for at least the next few days.
When the I-Team called the state Labor Department, they told us they generally only investigate when a construction worker is killed or three or more people are hospitalized.
Since no one called 911, Raleigh's police and fire departments weren't called. Even if they had been, it doesn't appear either has jurisdiction over construction accident investigations.
The City of Raleigh does issue permits for construction and demolition and inspectors from that department have gone to the site, but we are told they are just making sure the project can continue safely and all permits are in place.
The bottom line is it appears no government agency is assigned to get to the bottom of what really happened. That surprised Gregg whose office faces the site on the opposite side of Glenwood Avenue.
"I think it's up to each individual company to kind of police themselves," said Gregg. "They've obviously done a good job but who's to say somebody may not have the public safety at heart as much as these guys do."
Wednesday, the state Labor Department says it is looking into the matter, but only because we called to inquire. It's not clear if their investigation will help ensure what happened Tuesday doesn't happen again and send a piece of debris onto a passing motorist or pedestrian.
Last year, a demolition mishap in Philadelphia killed six people. Investigators there have charged a heavy equipment operator saying he was high on drugs at the time.
It doesn't appear anything like that happened here, but some think it's still important to find out.
"It would be good to have somebody else to have, you know, the public's interest a little more at heart," said Gregg.
Wednesday afternoon, the demolition company issued a statement saying they are investigating "...to ensure our worker's safety and that of any others within the proximity of the project area."
However, they are under no obligation to tell the public exactly what happened and why.
