Oroville >> A worker removing sediments from below the Oroville Dam spillway was injured around 3:30 a.m. Tuesday at the Diversion Pool.

The worker was operating an excavator on shore about a mile downstream from the spillway when another excavator’s bucket struck the cab and injured the operator, said Erin Mellon, the Department of Water Resources’ communications manager for the Oroville Dam spillway incident.

Mellon said the excavators remove sediments from the water.

The injured excavator operator was airlifted to Enloe Medical Center in Chico.

“The worker is conscious, alert and being prepared for release,” Mellon said at about 9 a.m. Tuesday. “We’re grateful the worker does not appear to have a serious injury. At the construction site, worker safety is our highest priority.”