National Grid on gas main leak: Contractor shouldn’t have used backhoe

The ruptured gas main incident that forced a downtown evacuation yesterday was caused by a National Grid contractor not following the correct protocol for the work it was doing on a road where the pavement had been ripped out, according to the gas company.

Subsurface gas lines are marked on the pavement and on curbs and sidewalks. But when the pavement is ripped up, as it has been on Main Street, which is undergoing a resurfacing project by state DOT contractors, digging must be done by hand, according to National Grid spokeswoman Wendy Ladd.

“But they didn’t do that. They used a backhoe,” Ladd said. The backhoe ruptured a two-inch gas line and caused natural gas to leak into the atmosphere.

The contractor, Asplundh, an international company headquartered in Pennsylvania, is working on a routine gas main replacement line for National Grid, Ladd said.

National Grid’s response team arrived on the scene and shut the main off quickly, according to Ladd.

“The fire department arrived immediately,” she said. “They cordoned off the area, and by 12:15 it was made safe,” Ladd said. At no point was the downtown area in danger, she said.

But Dee Muma, owner of Dark Horse Restaurant, where the line in the street was ruptured, thought it took too long for National Grid to respond to the scene. In fact, Muma said it took too long for the Asplundh crew to notify the fire department or the gas company they had ruptured the line.

“When our burners wouldn’t light, and a tenant upstairs called to say she had no gas, I went outside to find out what was happening,” Muma said in a phone interview today.

The contractor’s crew was standing around looking at the gas leak and discussing it, Muma said. They hadn’t even contacted the fire department.

The odor of gas was very strong.

Muma said she went back inside her restaurant, told her staff to exit the building by the rear door, and called the fire department — more or less.

“I have Allen Smith on speed dial,” she said, referring to Riverhead Town Justice and veteran firefighter Allen Smith.

Smith said he told Muma to leave the area, hung up and called the firehouse as he rushed out of his Roanoke Avenue law office and headed to fire department headquarters a short distance away. He commanded the first engine to arrive on the scene.

Muma said National Grid didn’t seem to have its act together. The break occurred betweem 9:45 and 10 a.m. The gas company didn’t show up until “much later,” she said.

National Grid shut the gas off as quickly as possible, according to Ladd. There’s a process that has to be followed, she said. Shutting off gas service must first be cleared by utility personnel who check to see whether there are any critical care customers in the area, Ladd said. Then they do a safety check that involves, among other things, going into each home and business in the affected area and making sure all gas lines are closed. Finally they shut down the main in the street.

Riverhead Fire Chief Nick Luparella said he thought the utility’s response to the crisis was “reasonable,” noting that the utility “brought in crews from all over the island.” They have to follow certain steps and they had to close seven different valves, he said.

After the rupture was repaired, National Grid had to visit every customer again to make sure the lines were closed before turning the gas back on, and then it had to relight each customer, Ladd said.

It was all said and done by about 8 p.m. The gas company prioritized reconnecting downtown restaurants affected by the leak, so they could be back in business at some point during the dinner hours.

“It’s a time-consuming process,” Ladd said. “We did our best.”

Muma, though critical of the utility’s response, had high praise for the volunteer firefighters who secured the scene and protected people and property downtown.

“The heroes in this were the Riverhead firefighters,” Muma said. “They did such a good job. And they volunteered so much of their time to make sure everyone was kept safe,” she said.

Luparella said yesterday about 60 volunteer firefighters from Riverhead responded to the call. Riverhead was assisted by Quogue, East Quogue, Westhampton and Hampton Bays, which all provided fire police for traffic control.