The feds on Tuesday spread the blame for a March 2014 East Harlem gas explosion that left eight people dead and 50 injured – pointing the finger primarily at Con Ed but also faulting the city and residents who never called 911 after smelling gas in the days before.
Con Ed, the National Transportation and Safety Board said, had gotten a call at 9:06 a.m. the morning of the blast – but waited 13 minutes before alerting the FDNY.
And then a utility worker inexplicably cancelled the call.
“Hold up. No, sorry. Hold on. Hold on. I’ll call you right back,” the worker said, but then never called back, according to the NTSB.
Had Con Ed called the department immediately after that 9:06 a.m. call, the feds estimated that the FDNY could have been on the scene 15 minutes before the 9:30 a.m. blast and begun evacuating.
The March 12 explosion, which leveled two five-story buildings at 1644 and 1646 Park Ave., was caused by gas seeping through the soil into the buildings from an improperly welded “fusion joint” connecting a Con Ed gas main to smaller lines leading to the buildings, NTSB investigator Ravi Chhatre said during a hearing in the capital.
The contractor hired by the utility to install the fusion joint in 2011 also lacked the proper certifications to do the work, and contamination of the fusion joint led to the seal being only 60 percent effective, the feds said.
“The quality control procedure for joining the plastic pipes was a safety issue,” Chhatre said.
A broken city sewer pipe that had gone unrepaired since 2006 allowed water to undermine the soil beneath the section of pipe where the flawed joint was, putting pressure on it that contributed to its failure, he said.
And the tragedy would likely have been prevented if residents of the buildings who had smelled gas the night before had called 911.
ConEdison spokesman Michael Clendenin disputed the feds’ report, saying the fusion joint was damaged during post-blast excavation and that a break in a larger gas main caused by the sewer pipe was to blame.
The feds said the city was aware that that section of Park Avenue had been sagging – a likely indication of a sewer or water main break — but instead of fixing the pipe they repaired the road’s surface.
The unnamed contractor, he added, still works for the utility after clearing up his paperwork problems.
Neighbors agreed that there was plenty of blame to go around.
“I think everybody has some responsibility,” said Vicky Rios, 28, an employee in the Wines & Liquors store at East 116th and Park who was on her way to work when the explosion occurred. “The city itself said the pipes are over 100 years old so they really need to do something.”
Con Ed filed a lawsuit in Manhattan Supreme Court last Friday blaming city negligence in maintaining streets, sewers and water mains.
The city has said that at least 205 people plan to sue and Robert Vilensky, who represents 18 of the plaintiffs, predicted the city and the utility will share liability.
“The NTSB places virtually equal responsibility for this tragic event upon both Con Ed and the City of New York, which had either or both done their jobs, eight people would not have lost their lives and countless others would not have been harmed,” he said.
