Keene Electric Company worker electrocuted at wastewater treatment plant

An investigation is underway after a worker was electrocuted and died during an accident at the Keene wastewater treatment plant.

The victim’s identity has not been released as of yet. Keene Mayor George Hansel called Wednesday a difficult day for the city. “I just want to first express my heartfelt sympathy to the family members of the person who passed,” Hansel said.

The person who died is an employee of Hamblet Electric. Hansel said they were working as a sub-contractor on a backup generator replacement project at the wastewater treatment plant located on Airport Road in Swanzey.

The incident happened just before 8 a.m. Wednesday. CPR and an AED were used to help the victim, but those efforts were unsuccessful. Monadnock family services also responded to the scene with the state’s mobile crisis response team to provide support services.

“This morning and in the coming days and weeks, we are going to make sure that mental health support is available to not only our team at the plant, but also our emergency responders, our contractors, anyone involved in this incident,” said Elizabeth Dragon, Keene city manager.

“We’re committed to finding out what’s happening here and insuring that it never happens again,” Hansel said. OSHA is working to determine exactly how the accident happened.

Officials said the Hamblet employee has been working on city projects for a few years and has formed relationships amongst city staff over time.

“Keene is a city, but we’re a close-knit community,” Hansel said. “I know I speak for many in this community expressing my sympathy to the family, friends and coworkers of the individual who passed away.”

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