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NYC building collapse subject of federal probe
Chicago Trib ^ | 3-13-14 | Tribune wire reports

Posted on 03/13/2014 5:18:36 PM PDT by smokingfrog

Federal safety authorities launched an investigation on Thursday into a gas explosion that caused the collapse a day earlier of two New York City apartment buildings, killing seven people and injuring dozens of others.

The still-smoldering rubble prevented investigators from getting close enough to examine the main pipe that supplies natural gas to the Upper East Side neighborhood, said Robert Sumwalt, a member of the National Transportation Safety Board, which reviews accidents involving natural gas.

When firefighters say the area is safe, he said, investigators will conduct a pressure test on the pipe to find the location of the leak that may have caused the blast.

"We are operating under the assumption at this point that it is a natural gas leak that led to an explosion," Sumwalt said.

The explosion at about 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday shook the East Harlem neighborhood shortly after a resident complained to the Con Edison utility about a gas odor.

Sumwalt said the scene was "in one word, devastating."

(Excerpt) Read more at chicagotribune.com ...


TOPICS: Government; News/Current Events; US: New York
KEYWORDS: buildingexplosion; explosion; gasleak; nyc
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To: smokingfrog

People needed to call about the gas odor, the utility or 911. Maybe it’s an “urban” thing...worked a bad cracked main recently and people would walk by saying they were smelling it for a couple days already and how bad it smelled. They all said “Someone finally called you...”


21 posted on 03/15/2014 8:25:41 PM PDT by jughandle
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To: PA Engineer
Thank you so much!

It's a lot of information to take in, but it was fairly easy to discern that Florida doesn't have many gas mains, of any kind, so it is just one less thing to worry about for myself.

Given our geology, I am thankfull that previous Floridians did not overly invest in that particular type of power supply.

Again, thank you very much for responding with valuable information on a topic I know very little about!

22 posted on 03/15/2014 9:18:04 PM PDT by sarasmom (Extortion 17. A large number of Navy SEALs died on that mission. Ask why.)
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To: sarasmom

One more thing I forgot to mention. The majority of leaks are usually what they call third party. That is someone who didn’t call before digging. I’m am glad the link was helpful.


23 posted on 03/15/2014 9:22:54 PM PDT by PA Engineer (Liberate America from the Occupation Media.)
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