NStar

Life in a strip mine

adamg — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 19:53:14 -0400

Brad Kayal lives on Sutherland Road in Brighton, which, you may recall, is where several thousand gallons of mineral oil leaked out of an Nstar electrical conduit this past Thursday and wound up in the Muddy River on the other side of Brookline.

Kayal took the photos here to show what the street has been like since that incident. He writes:

Have you ever thought to yourself, "I wonder what it's like to live in a strip mine?"

If so, I welcome anyone to swap apartments with me because since that pipe/conduit/whatever broke and leaked all that oil over a week ago Sutherland Rd. in Brighton has become one impressive construction operation. They've dug 15' holes up and down the block, erected wood shacks (that they're pumping nitrogen into), rented themselves some tents, got some cranes, dumpsters, port-a-johns, and they have been working non-stop , around the clock, since last Thursday.

Let there be light in Davis Square

adamg — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 21:45:59 -0400

Blackout.

Exploding manhole in Dorchester

adamg — Fri, 02 May 2008 13:39:11 -0400

NStar worker injured, but expected to survive the flash fire under Freeport Street.

Fires in the holes shut Harvard Square

adamg — Fri, 02 May 2008 08:35:53 -0400

Flaming manhole this morning.

The Crimson reports on flaming manholes early this morning:

A fire started underground on the corner of Mass Ave and Dunster Street was visible through several manholes in the Square this morning. Harvard's Holyoke Center, Cambridge Savings Bank, Au Bon Pain, and other nearby institutions were evacuated, and automobile access to the Square had been severely restricted by the Cambridge Fire Department. ...

NeutralSurface took photos, including the one on the right.

Channel 5 reports. NECN has video on "the underground mechanical failure" as well (great fire-AND-ice NECN screen capture).

Sushiesque was on the scene later in the morning taking photos of the aftermath:

Mishka gets the day off.

Michael: On second thought, maybe I'll go to Yale.

Crispyfoods captures Old Flameful outside the Pit:

A real fire in the hole

adamg — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 14:22:49 -0400

Channel 4 reports two NStar workers were injured this morning when the manhole they were in erupted in flames. Otis and Summer streets; cable failure blamed.

NStar arrogance

adamg — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 09:54:41 -0400

The Outraged Liberal is so enjoying recent NStar "service upgrades" in his neighborhood:

... Ever since the program started (or at least since we learned about it in February) I've been running around the house resetting the clocks on a regular basis (and you know how much fun that is!) We've had more power failures in the last two two weeks than in the previous five years. ...

Shocking news for Boston dog owners

adamg — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 16:50:48 -0500

Another dog gets shocked, in South Boston, but lives.

Lights out on Mission Hill

adamg — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 13:21:10 -0400

Electricity? Who needs that?

Flaming manholes of death explode in the North End

adamg — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 21:15:52 -0400

Not again!

Then again, it has been awhile since manholes last exploded in the North End. Also, despite the cool headline, nobody died from the geysers of flame, although, as you might expect, people were none too happy.

Channel 5 has some video.

The Pulitzer for Best Explanatory Paragraph goes to the Globe for really bringing the story home - especially for all its readers in Kansas:

The neighborhood, which is popular with tourists looking for an Italian meal, is also home to a number of college students.

The triple poles of Dedham

adamg — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 08:43:55 -0400

MyDedham chronicles the lazy utility-company practice of leaving stumpy, dangerous-looking old telephone poles rather than replace them when they put in new ones and finds an example of triple poling.

Earlier:
Optimistic homeowner thinks Verizon will transfer wires to new pole.