Dan’s Papers December 10, 2010 danshamptons.com Page 20
Tragic Accident
(continued from page 15)
Case International Harvester tractor was nearby. At some point, Levine had been driving it. It was not clear at the time of the accident whether he was doing so though, because at various times, people had to get down on their hands and knees and became unaware of his whereabouts, but sometime after 11, Levine became pinned under one of the rear wheels of this two-ton tractor. He shouted and people came, but he died under the weight of it before anyone could get him out, though many people desperately tried. The fire department, ambulance and police arrived at the scene. There was nothing anybody could do. The police cordoned off the area and Detective Anderson arrived to try to figure out how the tractor might have moved, whether Levine had dropped a tool under it or had gone under it for some other reason. The earth was soft. The field there was flat. There seemed no logical reason for it to have moved. Police have impounded the tractor and are going over it this weekend. They have no explanation at press time about what might have happened. The farmer’s market in Sag Harbor was held Saturday in memory of Joshua Levine after a brief time considering whether to cancel it or not. It was felt by many that Levine would have wanted it that way. A lit candle was on a table adjacent to a photo of him at Quail Hill’s table. Quail Hill Farm was created on land donated by Deborah Ann Light back in 1990. It ran as an independent co-op for awhile—my wife and I were members of it for several years in the early 1990s—and then it became part of a chain of
organic farm cooperatives under the auspices of the Peconic Land Trust. Late in the afternoon on the day of Levine’s passing, John v. H. Halsey, the President of the Peconic Land Trust, issued this statement. “All of us at the Peconic Land Trust are deeply saddened by today’s tragic loss and our heartfelt sympathies go out to Josh’s family and friends…. Josh’s enthusiasm for farming and the Quail Hill community prompted his decision to stay at the farm and to ultimately join the organization as a full-time staff member in the spring of 2010.” As investigators remain baffled about how this tragedy took place, I would like to offer up some thoughts. At 11:30 a.m., one of the farmhands rushed over from across the way to see what had happened. When he arrived, he later told reporters, he found that Levine was dead and the tractor had its front pushed hard up against the side of the chicken coop, with the engine on, and the left rear wheel spinning freely in a trench of mud two inches deep that it had apparently dug. It was in a neutral gear. It’s possible that Levine had left the tractor running, but it was also possible it had been off, but then started up by rescuers who had leaped up into it, turned it on and tried to back it away from the chicken coop, but found it would not move, and so just left it like that as they continued to attend to Levine underneath. If that is what happened, then the question is – how did the tractor drive itself up against the chicken coop in the first place? Could it have moved by itself on flat ground?
Just before 11 a.m. Eastern Standard Time that Tuesday, many people in this community felt a minor earthquake that had its center deep under the surface of the Atlantic Ocean about 100 miles southwest of Montauk. It occurred not on a fault line, but in a place where there are thousands of feet of sediment. According to those who measure these things, the earthquake’s intensity was 3.9 and it occurred at 10:46 a.m., with aftershocks taking place shortly after 11 a.m. Reports of it came from people living from as far away as Massapequa and Montauk. Numerous people also reported aftershocks. Interviews with a number of those people appeared in Newsday the next day. This reporter left his house in East Hampton at 10:40 a.m. and drove to his office in Bridgehampton, arriving for an 11 a.m. meeting at 11:05 a.m. About three minutes into this meeting, I felt this strange sensation that the building was moving slightly. It was a peculiar phenomenon. But it passed. And no one else mentioned it. Elsewhere, reports of the earthquake were of a more dramatic nature. People said it sounded as if a tractor-trailer was rumbling by, or that there was construction work going on close by. Rose Swezey, 55, of Water Mill, reported that she was looking out an upstairs window at her home when the shaking began. It lasted 15 seconds. “Nothing fell, but there was a really heavy vibration,” she told Newsday. “It was just things (continued on page 30)
LOSE INCHES WITH A FRIEND!
...AND GET latest laser-assisted...
10% OFF when you sign up with a friend.
As seen on the
TODAY Show!
Antoinette Notaro,
MD , FAAD
Board certified dermatologist specializing in nonsurgical facial rejuvenation using Botox, Radiesse, Juvederm facial peels and IPL.
www.AntoinetteNotaroMD.com 13405 Main Road, Mattituck
631-298-1122 1330283
1267438