Labor council honors those who died on the job, marks 25 years since Concept Sciences blast

BETHLEHEM, Pa. — A bell was rung during a moment of silence as family members approached the podium to recite the names of relatives who had died on the job.

Moments later, a bugler played taps as the crowd stood in solidarity on the lawn at the Bethlehem Rose Garden.

On Sunday, close to 30 people gathered to honor local people who were killed on the job during the 33rd annual Lehigh Valley Workers' Memorial.

The ceremony honored more than 750 local workers who died since 1818, including four workers whose names were added to the roster since last year's ceremony.

Lincoln Brown, 52, of Selinsgrove, Pa; Jeffrey R. Delp, 43, of Mt. Bethel; Larry Harris, 67, of Virginia; and Steven Armbruster, 54, of Lehighton, were included in the workers’ names read.

Brown was a dump truck driver who died in a crash April 9 in Lehigh Township; Delp drowned March 9 in a drainage basin at Ultra-Poly Corp. in Upper Mount Bethel Township; and Harris was a truck driver found dead in his cab off Interstate 78 in Weisenberg Township on March 1, organizers said.

Armbruster was a Lehigh County deputy sheriff who died Dec. 23, 2021 — three weeks after coming in contact with the coronavirus.

Anniversary of deadly explosion

Organizers also recognized the 25-year anniversary of the Concept Sciences explosion in Hanover Township, Lehigh County — a disaster that killed five people and left 14 others injured on Feb. 19, 1999.

"The explosion had a force of nearly 700 pounds of TNT and was felt as far away as Tobyhanna to the north and Topton to the west," said Ron Ennis, vice president of the Lehigh Valley Labor Council that organizes the annual memorial ceremony.

"It spread an unknown dust cloud over the most densely populated area of the Lehigh Valley and debris over a thousand feet away in many directions."

He blamed the accident, which involved the chemical hydroxylamine used to clean computer chips, on weak workforce regulations.

Killed were Anthony Mondello, his son Paul Mondello, Ruben Soto, Paul Wanamaker and Terry Bowers.

Micaela Hood

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LehighValleyNews.com

Since the incident— which remains the deadliest in Lehigh County since 1920 — several laws were changed at the state and local levels.

"Police, fire, and other emergency unit departments improved their regional communications to respond to catastrophes that can overwhelm a single community's resources," Ennis explained.

Additionally, the state passed legislation to ensure companies disclose their inventories of dangerous materials within days of receiving the products.

Honoring fathers, sons

Four people were invited to read the names of their respective family members who died in the past year.

Afterward, they placed a carnation on the Lehigh Valley Workers' Memorial statue.

Some of the grief-stricken exclaimed that it takes time to heal after losing a loved one due to tragic circumstances.

Sarah Beal, of Wind Gap, was among those there to memorialize those who died on the job.

In 1984, Beals' father Charles Marlatt was struck by a large piece of ice while working at a Pen Argyl quarry.

"It was a Saturday and he didn't want to go to work that day. He sat on my mom's bed and said, "I just don't feel right."

What was supposed to be a joyous time became life-altering.

"My daughter was 6-months-old and she had her hair cut the night before and my father didn't get to see it," Beal said. "We took a lot of her hair that was cut and put it in his pocket when he was buried because she was his everything."

The Lehigh Valley Workers’ Memorial Day committee has conducted the annual gatherings as part of the AFL-CIO’s nationwide campaign to reduce fatalities and injuries in workplaces.