By Tom Dalton
SALEM — They will never forget.
From a social hall in Salem to a church in a little New Hampshire town, from a historic garden cemetery to a hospital emergency room, there are memorials and remembrances planned for the three Salem Harbor Station workers who were killed in an accident one year ago today.
Their names and smiling faces are forever sealed in the hearts of loved ones and co-workers: Phillip Robinson, 56, of Beverly; Mark Mansfield, 41, of Peabody; and Mathew Indeglia, 20, of Lawrence.
The names are also etched on granite stones in a memorial garden that will be dedicated today at the power plant. On a stone pillar at the garden's edge are the words, "We will never forget."
The same words echo among family and friends.
"He'll never be forgotten around here," said Colleen Millea, a bartender at the Polish Legion of American Veterans, where Mansfield's friends and co-workers will gather today.
Indeglia's aunt, Rocio Camargo-Ruiz, said her family is doing all it can "to never forget."
The accident happened on the morning of Nov. 6, 2007. It was a Tuesday. Election Day. A wall tube ruptured on coal Boiler No. 3, releasing a burst of 600-degree steam under high pressure directly at the three men. They died later at a Boston hospital from their burns.
Investigations, appeals
A state investigation found that the cause of the explosion was a defective weld and tube corrosion in a lower area of a boiler — Boiler No. 3 — that had not been inspected for years. As a result, the state is pursuing disciplinary action against the plant's former engineer-in-charge and an outside insurance inspector.
Both individuals have appealed.
The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited plant owner Dominion for "serious" safety violations carrying more than $46,000 in fines. Dominion is contesting the ruling.
Meanwhile, a criminal investigation into the accident continues, according to Steve O'Connell, a spokesman for Essex County District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett.
In addition, lawyers for the three families are expected to file civil lawsuits.
Today, however, is about remembering.
All three families have arranged their own private services or remembrances. Some family members are going to Salem Harbor Station for this morning's memorial program, which will be attended by Congressman John Tierney, Mayor Kim Driscoll and state Rep. John Keenan.
It will take place in a small garden area at the harbor's edge, much of which was built by plant workers. In addition to the small pillar, there are granite stones inscribed with the names of each worker and their time of service — 19 years for Mansfield and Robinson and two days for Indeglia.
At 8:46 a.m. — the time of the accident — the names of each man will be read aloud and a bell rung three times.
"It is going to be an emotional thing for everybody," said Rick Robey, president of IBEW Local 326, which represented the deceased workers.
There will be brief remarks by a union official, a Dominion executive from Virginia and the plant's general manager, Mike Fitzgerald.
"It'll probably be the hardest speech I ever have to write," Fitzgerald said earlier in the week.
'Honoring his memory'
Although some family members aren't going, others felt they should attend. Mary LaFleur, Robinson's older sister, is driving down from New Hampshire.
"I'm just honoring his memory, I guess, and paying respects," she said. "It was a terrible thing that happened, but it was an accident."
LaFleur said another brother, John, asked to send along a message. "He said to mention that when Phillip was your friend, he was a good friend and he was a good union member."
Robinson's longtime companion, Patricia Martin of Beverly, also planned to be at the power plant today. She recalled how proud Robinson felt, just months before he died, to work on a memorial at the plant for a co-worker who had died of an illness.
"I feel like he would want me to be there," she said.
Robinson's youngest daughter, Amanda, will remember her father in a private way, Martin said. "She said she was going up to the cemetery" in New Hampshire, she said.
An anniversary Mass will be held Sunday for Robinson at Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in Greenville, N.H.
Mansfield's parents and stepparents are coming to today's ceremony from Maine. It will not be an easy trip.
"I still can't really talk about it," said his mother, Jane Talbot. "I miss him every day."
For his father, John Mansfield, the trip back to their Salem hometown will stir memories of a boy who loved to go hiking and camping.
"We have to live with our memories and move on," he said.
Later today, there will be a large gathering at the PLAV, where Mansfield has a legion of loyal friends. There are still photos on the wall of Mansfield cooking and of him decked out in a NASCAR racing shirt.
"He is still very, very much missed," Millea said.
Mansfield's wife, three daughters and other family members are holding a private memorial service tomorrow at a Salem cemetery.
Saying thanks
Today, Indeglia's family in Lawrence will remember him in their own special way. After a Mass at a church in North Andover where Indeglia made his First Communion, they will drive to Salem, making stops at the plant, at Northshore Ambulance and at the Salem Hospital emergency room, where they will leave gifts.
"For lack of a better term, it's just a pilgrimage of sorts," Camargo-Ruiz said. "We just want to remember his last moments and the people involved in trying to help him. ... We are so utterly grateful."
Tonight, Indeglia's family, which has roots in Peru, will watch a video of his life and then attend a Spanish Mass.
"We want to try to focus more on the life that he lived and the tremendous amount of love that he gave us, and not so much on the tragedy," his aunt said. "... We don't want to define him by this tragedy. We want to remember his life."
Accident chronology
Nov. 6, 2007: Tube bursts in Boiler No. 3, fatally burning three workers; plant shuts down.
Nov. 19: State revokes certificates of inspection for all four boilers.
March 2008: First boilers back in service following cleanup.
May 14: U.S. Department of Occupational Safety and Health Administration cites plant owner Dominion for not inspecting lower part of Boiler No. 3 in more than nine years, issues $46,800 in fines. Dominion contests citations and fines.
July: Boiler No. 3 back on line.
July 31: State revokes license of former engineer-in-charge Steve Dulong; finds outside insurance inspector Robert Maule "incompetent and untrustworthy." Both individuals appeal.
Nov. 6: Plant dedicates memorial.
