Sounding the Alarm Again

Last year, I wrote about the crumbling infrastructure around the country and the need to spend serious money to improve roads, rails, and the energy infrastructure.

This money has to come from somewhere, and it's not a problem that will be solved overnight. Will the latest blast showing the fragility of the energy distribution system be a clarion call?

I doubt it. Sure, there will be plenty of editorials and pundits who demand changes. Some politicians will even demand the utility do more, but in the end little will be accomplished.

Con Ed operates the steam system, and it appears that they've been doing a progressively worse job in maintaining the system in the past several years despite claims that they've increased their maintenance and replacement of systems. The site of the Manhattan steam explosion may have been well known to Con Ed and it had been dealing with various issues in the area for the better part of a year:

Over the last 12 months, the company responded to more than 300 emergencies in the 125-year-old system. Much of the 105 miles of steam mains that run under Manhattan's streets are decades old.

The explosion was merely the latest of Con Ed catastrophes, coming on the heels of last month's blackout across the Upper East Side and parts of The Bronx, and last year's nine-day blackout in Queens.

"It's not the first time it has happened, and it won't be the last," said Cynthia Barnes-Thompson, 48, a receptionist from Brooklyn. "They [Con Ed] are jeopardizing all our lives, and nobody seems to be doing anything when it happens."

Three of the emergencies recorded in the last year were at or near the site of Wednesday's blast. Exactly what happened on Aug. 16, Jan. 11 and April 5 couldn't be determined yesterday. Neither Con Ed nor the PSC could elaborate on the reports.

But some pipes near the blast site at Lexington Avenue and 41st Street needed repair. Street-opening permits filed with the city indicate Con Ed was trying to fix steam leaks near there right up to the day of the blast.

Con Ed had a city permit that would have allowed the utility to work at the intersection between June 21 and July 22.

One could hope that the utility company would begin a comprehensive system to replace and modernize the system - digging up 10 miles of pipe a year, but even that effort would take a decade before the system is at least relatively current. Consider that everyone should have known about the need to upgrade the steam system after the 1989 explosion that killed three people. In the years since then, how many miles were replaced? It would appear that Con Ed took the route that if it isn't broken, don't replace it.

That said, there are efforts to try and deal with the creaky infrastructure in the City. New technology is in the process of being applied to scanning the steam pipe system for leaks.

Of course, there are some folks who think that the steam explosion was done on purpose. Conspiracy nutters one and all.

UPDATE:
Gothamist notes that quite a few are not taking chances accepting the Con Ed and City view that the air is safe to breathe and are wearing respirators to err on the side of caution. They also note that there are some who question Con Ed's capabilities to manage the energy infrastructure in the City given all its recent problems.