Public Employee Press

Accident on job kills sewage worker

Early on the morning of Jan. 9, Gennaro Montello, 45, got up and went to work at the Owl’s Head Waste Water Treatment Plant, one of three jobs he held to support his family. Shortly afterward, the Local 1320 member was laboring with others to move a giant conveyor belt when the steel supports collapsed and pinned him underneath.

Co-workers at the Dept. of Environmental Protection facility rushed to his aid, and one of the would-be rescuers, Joseph DiGiovanni, was injured in the process of trying to save him. Both were taken to Lutheran Hospital in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. Shortly before noon, Montello died.

“It was an unfortunate accident that never should have happened,” said James Tucciarelli, president of Sewage Treatment Workers and Senior STWs Local 1320. “This was a hard-working, dedicated father whose sole interest was in his family. His main goal was to see his son, Gennaro Jr., 17, graduate from Catholic high school. His daughter, Briana, 14, was the apple of his eye.”

Montello’s funeral was held on Jan. 13 at the Church of St. Ephrem in Dyker Heights. Over 500 mourners paid tribute to the big-hearted man, whom they described as gracious, humble, fiercely loyal and “the salt of the earth.”

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg gave a heartfelt eulogy for the Sewage Treatment Worker. Addressing Montello’s widow, Donna, and his children, Bloomberg recalled that his own father died when he was 21. “You never get over it,” he said, “but the tears do turn to laughter and to good stories.”

In a press release, the mayor called the accident “a tragic reminder of how many others serve our City in challenging environments and how our City could not run without them. Mr. Montello was one of those unsung workers and we owe him, and his family, an un-payable debt of gratitude.”

Tucciarelli and other officers of Local 1320 are working with DC 37’s Safety and Health Dept. to monitor the investigation of the accident by the New York State Public Employee Safety and Health Bureau and to ensure that all recommendations issued by PESH are implemented.
“All he wanted was what any other worker wants — to go home to his family at the end of the day,”said Tucciarelli. “Tragically, on Jan. 9, that didn’t happen.”