I’m grateful that the Newton Citizens Commission on Energy has issued this letter strongly supporting the call by Council President Albright and Public Facilities Chair Leary, for a #DPUInvestigation of the #WalnutStreetGasExplosions

https://www.newtonma.gov/government/climate-and-sustainability/citizens-commission-on-energy

This gas leak, currently on the books at #MassDPU as a grade 3 leak of Significant Environmental Impact (SEI), aka “superemitter”, and on the books as a known and documented leak at that address on June 20, 2022, when the injury explosion occurred, is the one that I discovered yesterday that was actually a grade 1 hazardous leak in an explosive condition. #DPUInvestigation

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

#NationalGrid gas continues to leak into #Eversource high voltage infrastructure underground confined space. Photo taken minutes ago, at 960 Walnut Street, near the repeatedly unsuccessfully repaired Grade 1 hazardous leak. I called NGrid. #DPUInvestigation #WalnutStreetExplosion

9/9

As for the #DPUInvestigation, an actionable outcome will be a more stringent leak grading criterion that states that ANY detectable gas in an electric utility hole over a subsurface high voltage line must be categorized as a Grade 1 Hazardous leak.

The leak that exploded was listed as a Grade 3 non-hazardous "superemitter". Since it exploded, the Grade 3 was clearly incorrect. It wasn't non-hazardous - it was very hazardous. That false grading scheme must be fixed for public safety. END

9/9

As for the #DPUInvestigation, an actionable outcome will be a more stringent leak grading criterion that states that ANY detectable gas in an electric utility hole over a subsurface high voltage line must be categorized as a Grade 1 Hazardous leak.

The leak that exploded was listed as a Grade 3 non-hazardous "superemitter". Since it exploded, the Grade 3 was clearly incorrect. It wasn't non-hazardous - it was very hazardous. That false grading scheme must be fixed for public safety. END

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

The #NewtonFD incident record will show they called #NGrid even though the gas is in an #Eversource electric utility hole. That will demonstrate that they know the source of the gas in the high voltage electric infrastructure. #DPUInvestigation #WalnutStreetGasExplosion

Called 911. 0.30% gas sustained in #Eversource confined space above 13.8kV electric line next to leaking gas mains. #DPUInvestigation #WalnutStreetGasExplosion

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

#MassDPU didn’t know there was a Grade 1 hazardous leak on Walnut Street #NewtonMA for an unknown period of time after the explosions (left). So I informed them (right). A #DPUInvestigation is needed.

Just had a thought: they can line the 16”, then connect Walnut St services to it, and then abandon the 12” leaking pipe altogether with no gas loss. And homes can at that point choose to electrify if they don’t want a new service to the 16”. #WalnutStreetGasExplosion
#DPUInvestigation

The risk profile on Walnut Street, Newton, is of the “Black Swan”type: low probability, high impact. That was the risk profile of the #MerrimackValleyGasDisaster

#DPUInvestigation #WalnutStreetGasExplosion

A #DPUInvestigation could reveal, for example, the circumstances which led NGrid to send worker(s) out Saturday night to check at least one basement in the high 900’s block of Walnut St. (flames & smoke of explosion observed on low 1000’s block) It wasn’t an odor complaint but an unsolicited knock on the door. Was it an outdoor odor complaint by a 3rd party? Is there a call record?

@curt_nordgaard We need both a #DPUInvestigation & to #InvestigateDPU, & after a #DPUInvestigation is authorized we can begin to #InvestigateDPU as it conducts its investigation. An independent combustion explosion expert needs to be brought in to review all the public/media statements & records, conduct new interviews, assemble the evidence, assess probable and plausible root cause, and make recommendations for how to create safe conditions for a demonstrable ongoing safety risk.

Again, please join #AFWOG in calling for a #DPUInvestigation of the #WalnutStreetGasExplosion of 4/6/23.

#NewtonMA is not an EJ community and one could argue that scarce DPU bandwidth can’t be spared on a gas explosion risk in an affluent suburb.

I would respond that the risk under Walnut Street is a risk that is shared across the NGrid distribution service area, and what we learn from an investigation of the #WalnutStreetGasExplosion can help prevent the next #MerrimackValleyGasDisaster

Given that I called in what was subsequently confirmed to be a hazardous Grade 1 gas leak days after the gas explosion, in the vicinity of the explosion, so that the imminent risk of a gas explosion was confirmed to have existed some unknown # days after the April 6 explosion & until the time of the supposed repair April 16, & given that gas is still leaking in multiple areas along Walnut Street as of the last time I checked in the last 72 hours, I think a #DPUInvestigation is warranted.

Self-gaslight the last decade of my professional career and activism by silencing myself about a gas multi-explosion in my home town, #NewtonMA?

No, thanks. I’m going to keep on talking and helping #AFutureWithoutGas coalition with data and evidence.

Please join me in calling for a #DPUInvestigation of the #WalnutStreetGasExplosion