A subway construction worker who fell to his death in Universal City this year had heroin and marijuana in his system, according to an autopsy report that has prompted a new call for random drug testing of workers on the troubled Metro Rail project.
A toxicological report obtained Friday states that an unknown quantity of heroin was probably administered "within the last hour" before the July 25 death of Eleazar Montes.
Montes, a 33-year-old carpenter, fell more than 30 feet at a subway station construction site when the wooden platform on which he was walking collapsed. He was one of three Metro Rail workers killed this year, the first fatalities in the 10-year history of the $6.1-billion project.
Although the federal government requires random drug and alcohol testing for public transit workers with safety and security responsibilities--including jobs operating a bus or train--there is no such requirement for workers hired by private contractors to build the subway.
Contractors do test their workers before hiring, after accidents and if supervisors suspect abuse.
In a statement issued Friday, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority called on contractor Tutor-Saliba/Perini--on whose project Montes was working--to look for ways to strengthen its anti-drug programs, including considering random testing.
No one said Friday to what extent the drugs may have contributed to the accident. A coroner's spokesman said the drugs "may have impaired his abilities to function."
The toxicological report found the heroin byproduct 6-monoacetylmorphine in Montes' blood. "These results are consistent with heroin use," the report says. Tests also detected marijuana in the worker's urine.
"Basically what happens is heroin hits the system, and it's metabolized," said Stephenie Sermeno, a laboratory worker in the coroner's office. "So you can't actually detect heroin itself in the blood. All you can detect are its metabolites," the byproducts of heroin.
Ernest Vargas, an attorney representing Montes' parents, said the family was unaware of any drug use by their son. He said the coroner's report would appear to have no bearing on the cause of the worker's death. "It appears that was basically related to materials that had been used in the scaffolding," he said.
Company executive Ron Tutor said the coroner's report "speaks for itself."
