ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WBEN/AP) — The death of a 3-year-old boy in a restaurant's underground grease collection tank has prompted two state lawmakers to draft new safety legislation.
Police say the child fell through an unsecured plastic cover over a grease trap behind a Tim Hortons chain restaurant in Rochester on Monday.
Restaurant grease traps are designed to keep used oil and grease out of sewer systems. In Alabama, lawmakers passed legislation requiring more secure covers after a 3-year-old girl died in a 6-foot-deep (1.8-meter-deep) grease trap in October 2017.
In Tulsa, Oklahoma, a 5-year-old girl was rescued after falling into a grease trap in March 2018.
New York Assembly members Harry Bronson and Jamie Romeo have drafted legislation requiring locked metal covers, warning signs and annual inspections for grease traps.
