KENNEBUNKPORT — Two workers were found dead in a sewage holding tank on a Turbats Creek Road property this morning, according to police.
Richard Kemp, 70, of Monmouth, and Winfield Studley, 58, of Windsor, were found dead in the tank located at the Lodge at Turbats Creek. Both men were employees of Stevens Electric and Pump Services of Monmouth.
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Police Chief Craig Sanford said Kemp and Studley were doing some kind of work on a pump inside the tank. Sanford said they were working alongside an employee from Kennebunk-based Nest and Sons, which was pumping the tank.
The Nest and Sons employee left with a load of sewage and when he returned 30 to 45 minutes later, the men were not there, Sanford said.
A lodge employee reported the men missing to police at 11 a.m. The body of one of the men bobbed to the surface of the tank as sewage was being pumped from the tank, which an Occupational Safety and Health Administration official said was nine feet deep.
A woman who answered the lodge phone declined to comment.
Sanford said there were no witnesses and it’s unclear what happened. He said powerful fumes can be present in the tanks, but that he doesn’t know what caused the deaths.
The bodies are being taken to Augusta for autopsies by the state Medical Examiner’s Office.
An investigator from OSHA was at the scene today. The federal agency planned to send additional personnel to inspect the tank.
Karen Billups, assistant area director for OSHA, said septic tanks are supposed to be checked for oxygen deficiency, but it wasn’t clear if such a check was performed.
Kemp was hired as an electricians helper and had more than 20 years of experience when he was hired in 2002 and Studley had worked in the business for 17 years when he joined the company in 2006, according to the website for Stevens Electric and Pump Services.
A man at the business said the owner was not available and that the company had no comment at this time.
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