[9YearLurker]

Huh, I had no idea.

I guess we should never underestimate the reach of the federal government.

[PA Engineer]

The regulations have developed over the years and generally follow best practices. The problem is the uneven enforcement.

This particular incident caught my eye when ConEd mentioned they had old cast iron mains. In my proffessional opinion all cast iron mains should be replaced. Cast iron may not be as much of an issue with water, but it is a dangerous relic from the times of manufactured gas.

All cast iron sooner or later will experience a corrosion process that results in graphitization. Graphite is left over after the iron has corroded away. That is why old cast iron pipes look new when excavated, but are very brittle.

New York had a very cold winter with a deeper than usual ground freeze. Graphite retains a great deal of ground water and will freeze along with the ground compounding the problem, if not contributing to failures.

Finally, ground heaving during the freezing process will fracture the line.