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.

Solutions thread on the #WalnutStreetGasExplosion

TLDR: We can both fix it, very soon, AND pave an off-ramp off gas, without forcing any resident off gas.

1/n

#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

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

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

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