GALVESTON — City officials refused Monday to release information about a Sunday afternoon accident at a wastewater treatment plant that killed city employee Andrew Hunter.

City Manager Steve LeBlanc has asked the Galveston Police Department to investigate the incident. Until the police report is complete, no details about the accident would be released, spokeswoman Alicia Cahill said.

Cahill would not say whether Hunter, 46, was working alone at the time of the accident or what he was doing when he fell from a catwalk into a storage tank at the plant, 5200 Harborside Drive.

She also would not say how long it took for someone to notice Hunter had fallen into the tank or whether city officials think damage from Hurricane Ike might have contributed to the incident. The treatment plant was flooded during the storm, which made landfall Sept. 13.

Police received a call about a possible drowning at the plant at about 2:30 p.m. Sunday. Hunter was declared dead at the scene after emergency responders arrived.

Initial reports indicated he might have drowned, but the Galveston County Medical Examiner is awaiting toxicology test results before making a ruling on what caused Hunter’s death.

The tests would show whether anything Hunter might have inhaled at the plant, some kind of toxic gas, for example, contributed to his fall.

The city’s workers’ compensation administrator, HealthFirst TPA, is the only outside party investigating the death.

The city does not intend to ask any other group or agency to get involved, Cahill said.

Teams from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration normally investigate all workplace accidents, but the federal agency does not have jurisdiction over state, county or city employees, area Director Mark Briggs said.

Sunday’s incident is the first in at least 10 years where a city employee died in a job-related accident, Cahill said.

Hunter worked for the city as a plant mechanic from August 1999 until his death.