Lancaster County father, 2 sons die in Maryland manure pit

[cali]

By CINDY STAUFFER
Lancaster Newspapers
Updated: 05/25/2012 07:42:06 AM EDT


A Lancaster County man and two of his sons died after apparently drowning in a manure pit Wednesday at a Maryland farm where they were working.

The victims were identified as Glen W. Nolt, 48, and his sons, Kelvin R. Nolt, 18, and Cleason S. Nolt, 14, all of the 900 block of Goshen Mill Road in Peach Bottom.

The three were reported missing Wednesday night at a large dairy farm in Kennedyville, Md., which is between Elkton and Chestertown, on the east side of the Chesapeake Bay.

The Nolts came to the farm to work each day in the early afternoon, and were last seen between 2 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, according to a press release from the Maryland State Police.

<snip>

http://www.ydr.com/living/ci_20707233/lancaster-county-father-2-sons-die-md-manure

[OnionPower1]

1. Cow Pie

Was Mittens in the area?

[cali]

2. really? you think this is the occasion for a moronic joke?

fuck that.

[OnionPower1]

4. Who me?

You are the one who said honoring the dead this weekend was 'garbage.' I'm just taking your lead. I was also just noting the irony that on the day the president jokes about 'cow pies' to Iowa farmers - 3 real farmers actually die in manure. you have to admit that is weird.

[cali]

8. reading comprehension is clearly not your strong suit, dear.

and no, it's not weird that three farmers die in manure on a day that the president joked about cow pies.

[emilyg]

20. haha

About OnionPower1



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Number of posts: 11
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[cali]

14. can I give you a medal?

[dionysus]

24. sleep well, sweet, sweet prince

[malaise]

3. Oh shit

What an awful way to die

[bahrbearian]

5. This is so sad , especially for the Relatives

My neighbors Daughter went missing during a snow storm, her car was found 3 days later in the lagoon that held the run off from milking barn of their dairy, she was 17 so sad.

[AverageJoe90]

25. I agree.

R.I.P. the Nolt family.

[lumberjack_jeff]

6. manure pits are very dangerous - asphyxiation nt

[Gidney N Cloyd]

7. Can someone explain to a suburban kid what a "manure pit" is?

I know what manure and pits are but what's this all about?

[flvegan]

9. You know how big factory farm operations have a lot of animals?

In one fairly small place at one time, 365 days a year?

Those animals make a lot of shit. Shit has to go somewhere.

I've had my share of experience with them. Not a fun thing to be around.

[cali]

11. here

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anaerobic_lagoon

the pit or lagoon where these people died held 2 million gallons. The fumes can overcome someone and then that person can fall into the pit and drown.

[Liberal_in_LA]

27. ugh

[harmonicon]

21. Well, I'll give a different answer than the other two here.

I have no idea if it applies to the farm where these poor guys died though.

My family (mostly grandparents, and then uncles) ran a small dairy farm, and there was a manure pit there. It was a large concrete "pit", but with an angled entrance so that a tractor could drive into it when it wasn't full. It was next to the barns where the cows were kept. When the barns were cleaned (scooped/scraped out with a tractor), the manure was put in there, and then, when needed, taken out again to be used as fertilizer - this is why a tractor needs to be able to get in and out.

We were always told to stay well away from it, because it was dangerous - not that it took a lot of persuading, as it smelled terrible. The manure may not be what you'd think if you've never encountered it. It's not very solid - it's made out of all waste, you know? Kind of a disgusting slurry.

In any case, I had a clear picture in my mind of something like this when I read the story, though I may well be wrong, as those sort of farms are dying out (my uncles now just farm crops - they were too old to be bothered with all the work of dairy farmers, especially as the price they got for milk had been going down for decades).

[Sarah Ibarruri]

10. Here we are in 2012, and there are no new solutions for this manure situation

And we're feeding livestock toxic trash.

I think the reason there are no good solutions to any of these things, is that we allow the corporate world to control these things, and for them the cheapest (for them) way to do things, is always the best. And no, they don't pass savings on to the consumer.

[veganlush]

15. there is a great solution.

boycott cruelty, go vegan.

[flvegan]

19. Oh hush, you.

Doing that does nothing but make people pale and sickly. And their bones rot. And a shrinking brain. And something about soy making men grow boobs. Besides, global warming is a farce and those animals want us to eat them.

Or something. I may not be up on the latest dumbass, anti-vegan meme out there.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

23. Perfect solution. nt

[TheWraith]

18. There's lots of solutions, actually.

Anaerobic digesters convert manure into green electricity, and even without those these farms turn around and use their manure to fertilize feed crops like field corn. They pump it out in the spring, spread it on the fields, and till it in.

[Broderick]

12. This is just sad.

The men and boys in a family wiped out.

Tragic.

[madaboutharry]

16. I think this is terribly sad.

I also think it is disgraceful to joke about people's tragic deaths, especially the young boys.

[Electric Monk]

17. Ew, what a shitty way to die

[madinmaryland]

22. ...

[freethought]

26. Anyone recall the proposed regs on kids working on farms only weeks ago?

The Dept. of Labor proposed rules for children working on agricultural farms. This was after research showed that 75% of job injuries to kids happened in/on farms and agriculture. The regs would not have applied if the kids were working on a farm owned by their parents.
Well, the right grabbed and ran with it. They marched out Sara Palin who immediately labelled it as typical federal overreach. Obama backpedaled.

So, now we have one father and two sons, all dead.

Working on a farm is no joke. Chances are you are going to be around powerful equipment that is more than capable of killing you. Or causing severe injury! One also may be around unpredictable animals. Many years ago I used work at a stable that bred Thoroughbred racehorses. That may not sound dangerous in an of itself but I can personally testify that things can go very wrong, very quickly. These racehorses are much stronger than you, they are very high-strung, and if spooked they can easily crush a human skull with a kick. Some of them spook at a twig snap!

It looks as if these men were overcome by fumes drifting of the manure pit, essentially a hazardous atmosphere. I also used to to hazmat/ environmental service work not all that long ago. One is required to have special training and make special preparations for doing work in hazardous atmospheres or confined spaces. ALL OF THESE MEN WERE OUT IN OPEN AND IT TOOK ALL THREE OF THEM!

What a tragedy!