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After the death in August of environmental scientist Mary Carnes at the closed Los Angeles Landfill, Albuquerque officials are working to comply with safety regulations and address broader issues with the site.

The city has turned off an electrical system that served recreational vehicles parked there for the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta.

The problematic system was discovered during the investigation into Carnes' death. The closed landfill, just south of Balloon Fiesta Park, has been placed off-limits to balloonists and the public.

The pit Carnes, 52, was working in when she died has now been classified a "permit-required confined space," a designation that brings with it a host of new safety procedures that were not in place before.

Confined spaces -- such as pipes, pump stations or the pit in question at the landfill -- pose unique safety risks to workers because of the potential for gas buildup, walls caving in and asphyxiation, according to federal worker safety regulations.

The subject takes up about 16 pages in the federal lawbooks.

Among other requirements, employers are supposed to:

Test the space for adequate oxygen levels, flammable gases and toxic air contaminants before workers enter.

Ventilate the area before use.

Post an attendant outside the space while workers are inside, and ensure the attendant can communicate with the worker and order an evacuation if necessary.

Using dummies, practice rescuing people from confined spaces at least once a year.

"All of those things have been implemented or are in the process of being implemented" at the landfill site, said Ed Adams, the city's chief operating officer.

While a medical examiner listed Carnes' cause of death as "undetermined," an insurance investigator wrote a report concluding she died of asphyxiation from a lack of oxygen. She was alone at the time.

As to why the pit wasn't labeled a confined space before, "I would not say it was intuitively obvious" that it qualified as a confined space, Adams said.

The pit is less than 4 feet deep, and is covered with a large piece of plywood.

Insurance investigator Frederick Fochtman concluded "with a reasonable degree of scientific certainty that Mary Carnes died as a result of asphyxiation due to a lack of oxygen," but Adams said the city doesn't have access to that document and can't comment on it.

"We do not have a copy of it, we have not seen it, and I cannot respond to it," he said, citing confidentiality rules under the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.

State worker-safety officials, meanwhile, fined the city $6,500 for, among other things, not classifying the pit as a confined space. But since the only report the city has access to doesn't make any conclusions about a cause of death, Adams said it would be improper to guess how things might have gone had the city designated the pit a confined space earlier.

"It would be inappropriate to speculate if we don't know the cause of death," he said.