Veteran TXU employee killed in train collision

No one else hurt in accident at plant near Mount Pleasant

02/05/2000

By Scott Parks / The Dallas Morning News

A veteran TXU Corp. employee died early Friday morning when two trains collided at the company's Monticello Power Plant near Mount Pleasant, Texas. Dan Jess Rhea, 54, who lived in Mount Pleasant, was pronounced dead at the scene. No one else was injured, according to emergency medical technicians. Titus County Justice of the Peace Paula Dyke ordered Mr. Rhea's remains sent to the Dallas County medical examiner's office for autopsy.

Sandy Smith, a TXU spokeswoman, said a preliminary investigation revealed that Mr. Rhea was operating one of the trains when the collision occurred on plant property.

"My information is that his train collided with one sitting stationary on the track," she said.

The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating.

Ms. Smith said TXU owns and operates the train system, which brings lignite from nearby mines to the power plant. Lignite is a form of coal used to fuel several of TXU's 23 power plants in the United States. The Monticello Power Plant is about 90 miles east of Dallas in rural Titus County.

Mr. Rhea had worked for TXU for 27 years. He was married and had one son. Services were pending at Bates-Cooper Funeral Home in Mount Pleasant.

http://dallasnews.com/texas_southwest/27128_TXUFIRE05.html

-- Carl Jenkins (Somewherepress@aol.com), February 05, 2000