Watt a mess! Power lines hit homeowner with financial jolt(Stupidity alert)

Boston Herald ^ | Thursday, December 28, 2006 | Jay Fitzgerald

[GQuagmire]

A North Attleboro man faces financial ruin because he built a new home so close to dangerous high-voltage transmission lines that fluorescent bulbs inside the house light up without even being plugged in. The electric currents running through the two-story home are considered so potentially harmful that the town’s fire department has strung “caution” tape around the house while an electrical inspector has refused to issue a final permit out of fear someone might get electrocuted. The home’s metallic door knobs and exterior shingles give off mild electric jolts when touched, while flowing currents are strong enough to light up fluorescent bulbs on their own, the homeowner and experts agree. “I spent everything I had,” said Chris Zagami, who invested up to $70,000 of his own money and took out a $290,000 construction loan to build the 1,700-square-foot home just 27 feet from giant overhead 345,000-volt transmission lines owned by National Grid. Zagami, 30, whose bank is now threatening to call in its loan, blames the fiasco on others, including the town of North Attleboro for issuing him a building permit and National Grid for allegedly constructing one transmission tower years ago too close to his property.

“Financially, I’m so in over my head that it’s ridiculous,” said Zagami, a phone-company technician who grew up only 50 yards away from his new home on Lindley Street in North Attleboro.

The building inspector who issued the permit no longer works for the town. John Rhyno, a town selectman, said he wants to know why the town issued a building permit in the first place, though he maintained there’s nothing in state statutes that sets guidelines for building homes close to transmission lines.

“You would think common sense would have prevailed” before construction started, he said of everyone involved, including Zagami.

A spokeswoman for National Grid, which owns the transmission lines, said Zagami has no one to blame but himself for proceeding with construction last year without getting the company’s permission.

Debbie Drew, the spokeswoman, said Zagami built his home on National Grid’s easement and ignored its repeated warning to stop.

Zagami, who is single and whose now largely completed home sits abandoned, said his surveys show that National Grid actually built one transmission tower off of its easement years ago.

“My life is being destroyed,” said Zagami, of the financial crunch he’s now facing. “I was trying to live the American dream and now I’m getting killed.”

[Red Badger]

I used to live in an apartment 30 years ago that was practicallly right underneath some HV Tower power lines. My stereo system of the time (Pioneer/Marantz) had a constant BUZZZZZZZZZZ................

[Long Island Pete]

No I couldnt. In fact I am still laughing about it.

[bmwcyle]

LOL

[DreamsofPolycarp]

I remember hearing about some farmer in Alabama who put a huge coil in a chicken house, and ran his entire farm for almost ten years before they caught him. (The nature of TVA's easement allowed him to put farm buildings on the easement).

[DB]

Pretty much does in AM reception too...

[JimRed]

Can a tech savvy FReeper explain how power "leaks" from transmission lines? I should think they'd be well insulated.

[Mark was here]

Two thoughts.

1. The house is not properly grounded. Proper grounding will make any static buildup next to impossible.

2. When given a lemon. make lemonade. If his property is close enough I wonder if he could be inductively coupled to the power lines. Say the power line is the primary side of a transformer, he could run a parallel length of wire and treat it as a secondary side of a transformer and have it drive a load. Free power! Another way of looking at it is the power company was broadcasting on to his property and he was merely receiving the signal.

[SouthTexas]

“You would think common sense would have prevailed”

Ya think?

Look up, see wires, feel buzz...

[andy58-in-nh]

Lots of live wires on this thread.

[M. Dodge Thomas]

[massgopguy]

Get within 5 feet of a High Tension Wire and it will Arc Out to you.

[CharacterCounts]

I should think they'd be well insulated.

High voltage lines are not insulated at all.

[Professional Engineer]

So, it sounds like he doesn't even have to plug in his Beeber to recharge it.

[HawaiianGecko]

Brings a whole new meaning to current events. I don't know about this story. I don't see how it's possible to be as bad as they claim. A $400K home is going to take at least 4 months to build. No one noticed this and complained.  Trusses were set using a boom truck. You'd think contractor saws, routers, skill saws etc. would have also been effected during the build.

With as much press as high power lines have had over the years in "Erin Brockovich" type of stories, this guy had to be a moron to spend this kind of money 27 feet away to begin with.  Just because the city gives one a permit to build a home on top of a swamp, doesn't mean it's a guarantee things will be fine.

There will be a lot of ohm chanting in the near future with this guy, but I'm not sure it will have anything to do with Karma.

[Issaquahking]

Couple of things going on here.

First, I think the guy is an idiot!

Second, this is an interesting challenge thrown down to the power company(s). For years, the power companies will tell you that there is nothing harmful about their lines. They do so, because of the devastating effect that it would have on all developed countries with overhead power. So if that were true, then the house underneath would be just fine (only an idiot would push the edge of the envelope) according to theory. I'd be interested in who all is behind this clown (and what is going on behind the curtain).

I have some ulterior motives for watching this case as I'm part of the electrical community. The question that exists in my head is "What the hell was wrong with "the authorities" for letting him build it? Need to clean the city up of "the powers that be"! They do make cease and desist orders.

[SoftballMominVA]

A spokeswoman for National Grid, which owns the transmission lines, said Zagami has no one to blame but himself for proceeding with construction last year without getting the company’s permission. Debbie Drew, the spokeswoman, said Zagami built his home on National Grid’s easement and ignored its repeated warning to stop.

So, he's told to stop and he doesn't, and now somehow it's not his fault?

[Jeff F]

AC come, DC go.

Now that is clever. Best pun on this thread.

[Issaquahking]

If his property is close enough I wonder if he could be inductively coupled to the power lines. Say the power line is the primary side of a transformer, he could run a parallel length of wire and treat it as a secondary side of a transformer and have it drive a load. Free power!

Mark,

This is known as theft of services. It is one of the charges the government(s) use when people go skiing at a ski resort, and then ignore the boundaries, and ski in closed areas. Can be good for jail, and/or fines.

[SoftballMominVA]

According to the article, he built his house on the easement. Seems to me a pretty simple survey would have shown the problem and could have moved the house back.

[RGSpincich]

http://data.visionappraisal.com/northattleboroma/(S(uldpnwfoj2yqhd555xijjo45))/findpid.aspx?iTable=pid&pid=8790

Ownership History Owner Name Book/Page Sale Date Sale Price
ZAGAMI CHRISTOPHER J 15032/0242 7/29/2005 100,000
DESVERGNES JOHN 08836/0292 6/14/2000 1
HERITAGE HOMES OF ATTLEBORO 08608/0015 12/21/1999 0
TOWN OF NORTH ATTLEBOROUGH 06884/0176 9/17/1996 0
HERITAGE HOMES OF ATTLEBORO IN 01542/0398 1/19/1969 1

There is a fellow out there by the name of John who has some splainin' to do. This property was changing hands for a dollar or less since 1969 until this guy sold it to his mark. Like to see some of the seller's documents and hear his argument against title insurance.