A construction worker died Wednesday after he fell off scaffolding into a 35-foot-deep tank at a sewage plant in Brooklyn.
The FDNY got the call at about 12:34 p.m. to rush to the Coney Island Water Pollution Control facility on Knapp St. near Voorhies Ave. in Sheepshead Bay.
Michael Buffamante, 31, of Hawthorne, N.Y. fell from the scaffolding into the concrete tank, which was filled with wastewater treated with chlorine.
The tank is the last step in the process in which sewage is scrubbed before it is released into the waterways, sources said.
Two FDNY divers found Buffamante at the bottom of the tank in a search and pulled him out of the water.
He was in the water for about eight minutes, according to FDNY Deputy Chief John Hodgens.
“There was no sign of him on the surface,”Hodgens said. “We immediately brought him to the surface. He was in cardiac arrest. We were trying to get a pulse back.”
Hodgens said the tank extends under a pier, which made the search more difficult.
Paramedics performed CPR and then took Buffamante in critical condition to Coney Island Hospital, FDNY officials said. He died at the hospital, sources said.
Officials with the Department of Environmental Protection, which manages the plant, refused to answer questions at the scene.
The agency later released a statement which said the worker was employed by Welkin Mechanical based in College Point, Queens.
The work involved installing dechlorination equipment.
DEP said Buffamante was wear personal protective equipment, but did not specify what type of equipment it was.
“DEP’s thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends and colleagues,” the statement said. “Additional workers are being interviewed now and DEP will conduct a further review.”
An official with Welkin said she “had no information” about the incident.
