By RICK A. RICHARDS
Indiana Correspondent

TAMPICO, Ill. — The deaths of two 14-year-old girls during a corn detasseling operation in Whiteside County in the northwestern corner of Illinois has opened a safety investigation by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
The two teens were part of a 72-person detasseling crew working in a field owned by Monsanto Corp. Emergency responders said the two girls were electrocuted when the detasseling machinery on which they were working came in contact with a center pivot irrigation system that had apparently developed a short.

The two girls, Jade Garza and Hannah Kendall, both of Sterling, Ill., were electrocuted at about 9 a.m. July 25. Both were pronounced dead at CGH Medical Center in Sterling. Garza and Kendall were close friends and last year attended Challand Middle School, where both were on the track team.

Eight other people were injured in the incident, including one who was critically injured and airlifted to St. Anthony Medical Center in Rockford, Ill., and another who was treated and released at CGH. Six others were evaluated at Rock Falls Fire Department.

Bill Field, a safety engineer with the Breaking New Ground program at Purdue University in West Lafayette, has talked twice to investigators in Whiteside County.

“I’ve spent quite a bit of time on the phone with folks up there,” said Field.
“There is a lot of standing water in the field and apparently it wasn’t too long ago that the irrigation system had been hit by lightning.”

According to him, the lightning strike, which wasn’t discovered until after the girls were electrocuted, apparently damaged center pivot’s electrical system. “That meant the potential was there for a well-grounded person to be injured,” said Field, adding the center pivot system is powered by a 240-volt motor.
“It doesn’t take an awful lot of electricity to kill somebody,” he said, pointing out the center pivot arm is made of aluminum, which made it an ideal conductor of electricity. The two girls were killed when they apparently came in contact with the aluminum arm of the irrigation system.

In a statement issued by Monsanto, the company announced it has shut down its detasseling operations in the area. In all, Monsanto employed more than 1,000 people during its summer detasseling operation in northwestern Illinois.
“I am saddened by this terrible accident and loss. We place the highest priority on the safety of our contractors and employees,” said Hugh Grant, CEO of Monsanto in a prepared statement.

“Our greatest concern at this time is the well-being of the family and friends of those involved in today’s devastating accident.”

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) spokesman Scott Allen said the agency is investigating to find out what caused the deaths. OSHA becomes involved in investigating workplace accidents when three or more people are injured or when there is a fatality. Results of the OSHA investigation won’t be announced for at least six months.

Under Illinois law, children as young as 12 can work farm jobs with parental consent. Field said while these kinds of farm accidents are rare, because children are involved, it brings a lot of attention and raises questions about why children are working in the first place.

For many in rural communities, detasseling corn, baling hay and working other farm jobs is a rite of passage.

“Something like this needs to be put into perspective,” said Field. “This is a tragedy, yes, but the number-one killer of children is auto accidents, number two is fire and smoke and number three is drowning. Something like this is very rare, and I would hate to see a tradition of young people working in the fields ended because of this.”

Responding to the accident were the Whiteside County Sheriff’s Department, Tampico Fire Department, Prophetstown Ambulance Service, CGH Ambulance Service, Morrison Ambulance, Milledgeville Ambulance, Rock Falls Fire Department, Rock Falls Police Department, Illinois State Police and Whiteside County Highway Department.