Monsanto changes protocol after teen deaths

ST. LOUIS – Two days after two Sterling girls died after being electrocuted while detasseling corn, Monsanto Company changed safety procedures for corn growers or farm landlords.

Jade Garza and Hannah Kendall, both 14, were killed when they came into contact with a pivot irrigation system.

Monsanto employed the 72 detasselers working in the rural Tampico field that day.

On Wednesday, the company said growers or landowners now must unplug irrigation systems at the panel and park the pivot irrigation system outside the detasseling area or in the pivot access lane, Monsanto spokesman Tom Helscher said.

Both requirements must be met before detasseling crews enter fields, Helscher said. He said the new measures were in place before detasseling resumed Wednesday in the Sauk Valley.

The agricultural company continues to tell workers not to climb, step over or touch the pivot irrigation wheels or pipes, Helscher said. The crews must avoid the pivot and stay 10 yards away, he said.

The company is implementing the new rules in all of its corn-producing regions, he said.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Whiteside County Sheriff's Department continue to investigate the deaths. Monsanto is cooperating, and also conducting its own investigation, Helscher said.

Jade's stepsisters, Delanie and Bailey Knapp, also were injured in the accident Monday. Bailey was treated and release. Delanie, 14, is no longer at OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center in Rockford, a nursing supervisor there said Friday.

Her family said Tuesday that they expected Delanie to be released Thursday.

Funerals remember, honor teens

STERLING – The outpouring of emotions from the community was swift and constant after the deaths July 25 of two Sterling girls while they detasseled corn in a field in rural Tampico.

Hours after Hannah Kendall and Jade Garza died, memorial pages were started on Facebook.

More than 1,000 people quickly signed up to one of them. By Friday morning, 12,340 had indicated they "liked" the page – nearly equivalent to Sterling's population.

Balloon releases and walks were held throughout the week.

On Friday, the community said goodbye, as funerals were held for the best friends, who would have been freshmen at Sterling High School this fall.

Hannah's funeral was Friday morning at St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church, Sterling. She was buried at Calvary Cemetery, also in Sterling.

Jade's funeral was just a few hours later, at McDonald Funeral Home in Rock Falls.

She was buried in Oak Knoll Memorial Park in
Sterling.

Both services drew large crowds.

Sarah Kendall, 21, spoke at the funeral, calling her little sister "my sissy, my best friend, my world."

Jade's funeral drew throngs of mourners. Several people said that even though they didn't know Jade, they were there to pay respects and support her family.

– David Giuliani, Shaw Media