$1B Fermilab project on hold after worker injured during fall

A massive project to build one of the world’s most powerful particle accelerators at Fermilab has been halted since May 25 while federal authorities investigate an accident that severely injured a northwest Indiana ironworker three months into construction.

James Daniels, 46, fell from the top of a two-story wall during his first day on the job. Hospitalized for several months, he has filed a lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court against Fermi Research Alliance, which operates the site, as well as the contractor and subcontractors in charge of the construction project.

“James is going to have a lifetime of disability related to this occurrence,” said Michael Fisher, an attorney with GWC Injury Lawyers, a Chicago-based firm representing Daniels in the lawsuit. “It’s extremely unlikely that he will ever return to work as a Local 1 ironworker.”

The Proton Improvement Plan II, a 10-year, $978 million project funded by the Department of Energy, which owns the Fermi National…