Worker injured in fall at Busse Woods Dam project

A construction worker was hospitalized after falling off a ladder and into the water while working near the Busse Woods Dam in Elk Grove Village on Wednesday afternoon.

Fire officials responded to Busse Woods around 3 p.m. and found the worker had already been pulled from the water, said Elk Grove Fire Lt. John Fordon.

"He slipped off a ladder, hit the concrete, knocked himself out and then fell into the water," Fordon said. The worker, who was part of a contracted construction team working on a multimillion-dollar project to modify the dam near Cosman Road to mitigate flooding, was taken to Alexian Brothers Medical Center with nonlife-threatening injuries to his head and back.

The man was in serious condition but stable Wednesday evening, Fordon said.

Another member of the crew and two nearby fishermen were able to pull the worker out of the water quickly before the fire department arrived, he said.

The dam modification project has been under consideration since 2008 and is expected to help alleviate flooding along Salt Creek in Cook and DuPage County. Work on the dam started in August. Several different governmental agencies, including Elk Grove, DuPage County, the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Great Chicago, Forest Preserves of Cook County, Illinois Department of Natural Resources and Illinois Nature Preserves Commission were all involved with approvals on the project.

The local Occupational Safety and Health Administration were contacted on Wednesday to do an investigation, but Fordon said it was likely accidental and not related to any kind of equipment malfunction.

Fordon said work on the project was already winding down for the day, but he doesn't expect the job site to be closed going forward.

"Obviously it's a muddy area, whether that played into it or not, I don't know, but gravity took over," Fordon said. "It could have been a lot worse."