Until today there has been no official acknowledgment by the #CityOfNewtonMA that the gas company, #NationalGrid, and it’s leaking pipes in close proximity to underground high voltage #Eversource electric infrastructure, could have any causal relationship to the #WalnutStreetGasExplosions

For the first time, a #CityOfNewtonMA official disclosed this evening that the City has been “in close touch” with #NationalGrid regarding the #WalnutStreetGasExplosions. This is a highly significant disclosure and development.

I'm largely pivoting now from direct, intensive gas and electric street work in #CityOfNewtonMA, to active reflection and writing the case up. There is enough material now to tell a story of the City of Newton, variants of which apply to cities and towns well beyond.

I’ve drafted a call for an official #DPUInvestigation of the #WalnutStreetGasExplosion in the #CityOfNewtonMA and welcome suggestions on how my wording can be improved to strengthen the case:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1DkYcspWYtKfKp0d_NtUJzbiKXvZrhQUTShwS2cXMHAI/edit

I found an explosive level of gas (6%) this evening in an #Eversource electric utility hole, fed by a leaking 12” cast iron #NationalGrid gas main.

This is at the same location as a June 20, 2022 explosion which injured a worker, at an #Eversource substation.

This substation was initially implicated in the 4/6/23 #WalnutStreetGasExplosion causal chain.

This is directly across from #CityOfNewtonMA City Hall, next to the #NewtonFreeLibrary, parking lot on Homer Street.

I found an explosive level of gas (6%) this evening in an #Eversource electric utility hole, fed by a leaking 12” cast iron #NationalGrid gas main.

This is at the same location as a June 20, 2022 explosion which injured a worker, in front of an #Eversource substation.

This substation was initially implicated in the 4/6/23 #WalnutStreetGasExplosion causal chain.

This is directly across from #CityOfNewtonMA City Hall, next to the #NewtonFreeLibrary, parking lot on Homer Street.

I found an explosive level of gas (6%) this evening in an #Eversource electric utility hole, fed by a leaking 12” cast iron #NationalGrid gas main.

This is at the same location as a June 20, 2022 utility hole explosion which injured a worker, in front of an #Eversource substation.

This substation was initially implicated in the 4/6/23 #WalnutStreetGasExplosion causal chain.

This is directly across from #CityOfNewtonMA City Hall, next to the #NewtonFreeLibrary, parking lot on Homer Street.

Yesterday, in front of the Newton Education Center, 100 Walnut Street, #CityOfNewtonMA, where #Eversource said then retracted, that the April 6, #WalnutStreetGasExplosion was triggered, I found #NationalGrid gas leaking into an #Eversource utility hole (toward middle of the street) near the flooded storm drain in foreground. Gas was steady at 6,000 ppm (3000x ambient). On a prior visit it exceeded 10,000 ppm.

Any gas leaking into high voltage buried electric infrastructure = unacceptable risk.

#DPUInvestigation of the #WalnutStreetGasExplosion has begun. First communication to me (left) and my initial response (right). #CityOfNewtonMA

Thank you #MassDPU for being responsive to my concern for public safety on Walnut St., #CityOfNewtonMA, where we are calling for a #DPUInvestigation on the #WalnutStreetGasExplosion

My public comment narrating live on-scene video of a ~27% (270,000 ppm) gas leak ~50 feet from the explosions site, & calling for a #DPUInvestigation of the #WalnutStreetGasExplosion, at the #CityOfNewtonMA Public Facilities Committee hearing.

This comment =13 days after the explosions. There’s been no public acknowledgment of the gas leaks at the explosion site by the #CityOfNewtonMA, except to admit to a hazardous condition nearby in an e-mail.

Go to 09:15 here:
https://youtu.be/ez4IF9SpT0M

I’ve also learned that #MassDPU was mistaken in saying that NGrid is waiting on the #CityOfNewtonMA to fix the many leaks on Walnut Street. No Grant of Location request has been made to the City of Newton by NGrid for Walnut Street as of this writing.