Gas From Manure Pit Kills 5 On Dairy Farm

Farmer, Wife, 2 Daughters And Farmhand In Virginia Were Overcome By Methane

(CBS/AP)  Deadly methane gas emanating from a dairy farm's manure pit killed five people, including four members of a Mennonite family, authorities said.

Emergency workers speculate that after the first victim was overcome Monday, the others climbed into the pit in a frantic rescue attempt. "It was a domino effect with one person going in, the second person going after them," Rockingham County Sheriff Don Farley said.

"When these fumes hit you, it takes a matter of seconds, and it's my guesstimate that these people were dead before they actually hit the floor," Farley told CBS News.

Farley identified the victims as Scott Showalter, 34; his wife, Phyillis, 33; their daughters, Shayla, 11, and Christina, 9; and Amous Stoltzfus, 24, who worked at the Showalters' dairy farm in the Briery Branch community.

The accident began when Scott Showalter tried to transfer manure from one small pit to a larger one, measuring 20 feet by 20 feet and 8 feet deep.

The pipe that was transferring the manure became clogged, and Showalter climbed in the pit to fix the blockage, Farley said.

"This was an activity this farmer has probably done a hundred times," Farley said. "People have to go in and check their equipment," but for some reason, the fumes had not left the pit this time.

"This is the first time in my 25 years in law enforcement that we've had this happen in a manure pit, and then to have it happen to five people, just multiplies it that much more on the tragedy site of it," Farley said.

Emergency workers believe Stoltzfus climbed into the pit in an attempt to rescue Showalter. Phyillis Showalter and the two girls were outside the milking barn, heard the commotion, then all went into the pit and succumbed to the deadly gas.

Methane gas is an odorless and colorless byproduct of liquefied manure. The pit was nearly enclosed and poorly vented, Farley said.

Farley said the deaths were called in by another person on the farm, whom he declined to identify.

"By the grace of God that person did not go into that pit," he said.

The Showalters, who also had two younger daughters, milked 103 cows on their farm west of Harrisonburg in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley. The area has a large concentration of Mennonites, who shun most of the trappings of modern life.

"It's a very tight community," Farley told The Associated Press. "They will be ministering to each other and counseling each other. It's very fortunate that they have a very strong faith to help them through this."

Farley said the Showalter farm was a modern dairy operation. "Their faith did not deter any safety precautions," he said.

Tell whystopnow to stop gassing and come out of that pit. Leave them folks alone!

[missingamerica]

Very sad. But "nearly enclosed and poorly ventilated" conflicts with the statement "a modern dairy operation".

[toolmangler-2009]

that was a lot of Cr@p. (Tun inpended)

[cantshutup]

can we live without cows?

Sad...milk is bad for humans...don't drink it and stop global warming!

[oeangus]

Yikes. What a way to go.

[thursday24]

Man, that stinks!

[j05181958]

well canshutup you have proved that one. it doesn't sound like you know anything about farming. (or milk) Let's just quit farming and buy every thing from china and then we will know how our dog & cats felt when they were poisned by their way of feeding animals and people.

[beadazzle]

This is bad,what a way to go. Have any of you ever noticed how much milk now days stinks and taste aweful compared to fresh milk back in the 50's and 60's and 70's before they started putting in all this gunk we don't need.

I read an story about milk the other day on here and it makes me want to go buy my own cow and do my own milking so i can have a nice thick creamy drink of milk or on my cereal.

People are wondering why they are dieing,well take a look at the *** put into our foods which the the FDA says is good for us,yeah right,it's this stuff that we are forced to eat that has been proven to make people sick and some die from it.

We may be living longer now,but it's not because of the stuff thats put into our food.When I grocery shop I sometimes buy my raw vegtables from a health food store and only buy what's the most freshest say like with in a few days and that hasn't been touch by pesticides or any other ***.

I buy my meats from a minnonite farm where the meat is raised on natural land grasses and not fed any corn or anything else. It taste alot better and is cheaper than going to a grocery store like dillions or kroger or safeway.

So if you want to live longer and eat better try that out.

[randalds]

This happened in Northern Michigan about 15 years ago and 5 died then too. Farming is not much short of the military of being the most dangerous way to make a living. Accidents and death happen in farming more then just about any other job.

[cantshutup]

J05181958...shove it reallll hard...you missed my point dullard...DO WE NEED COWS??? no...did I say anything about buying s hit from china??? no...you're so stupid...wake up already...
i grew up on a farm, i hated beef, my folks ate it everyday, they have dementia now...i eat what i grow in my garden and i don't buy ANYTHING from china...that's makes shopping an even bigger chore...but trust me, you can live without beef or dairy and you can live without anything from china!!!

[beavrl]

This is the second largest event of this type in history-the largest in terms of deaths and injuries occurred in 1989. NIOSH and CDC have published warnings. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to get this information to the users. Typically these warnings are only noted by those of us who are Ag safety professionals. This month's issue of Journal of AgroMedicine has my article on the hazards and issues related to this problem.