A Water and Power Authority lineman was injured Tuesday on St. Croix while working on the island’s recovery from Hurricane Lenny.
Benjamin "Benjie" Mitchell, a 28-year WAPA employee and supervisor in the utility’s line department, was in stable condition at Gov. Juan F. Luis Hospital before being transported to a hospital in Gainesville, Fla., according to a relative.
According to WAPA, Mitchell was burned while working near an energized primary feeder line in the Estate Profit area shortly after 11 a.m.
An appeal was made on WSTX radio for an ambulance to be dispatched to the area to render emergency care to Mitchell. Word of the lineman’s injury reached St. Thomas at Tuesday’s WAPA governing board meeting, where members and Executive Director Raymond George were notified of the incident.
The authority’s assistant executive director, Gregory Willocks, remains on St. Croix overseeing the recovery project.