Crews search for man buried in trash, dirt at landfill

KERSEY, Pa. – Crews are searching for a Pennsylvania landfill worker who was buried when a mound of garbage and dirt slid down onto him.

Advanced Disposal, of Ponte Vedra, Florida, says emergency crews and others are continuing efforts Thursday to find the worker. The company operates landfill near Kersey, about 100 miles northeast of Pittsburgh.

The missing man’s name hasn’t been released. State police say he was driving a garbage compactor when trash and dirt slid down and covered the machine about 2:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection records show the landfill was fined in 2015 for not being designed in a way to prevent hazards after an unspecified “incident response.”

It wasn’t immediately clear what those hazards were, but Advanced Disposal spokesman Mark Nighbor says that’s not believed to be related to Wednesday’s accident.