The Gatepost takes a fascinating journey through the mysterious corridors of May Hall’s art department.
Sports:
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Football team trumps Salve Regina. Rams extend their record to 2-1.
Lessons from a gas leak
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Director of Facilities and Capital Planning Warren Fairbanks inspects the scene of the gas leak.
By Lauren Byrnes Editor-In-Chief
Drake McCabe/The Gatepost
N S TA R i n v e s t i g a t i n g severed gas line
An NSTAR spokesman said the company is investigating how a gas line adjacent to Linsley Hall was severed during excavation related to the construction of the new residence hall Tuesday afternoon. NSTAR Spokesman Michael Durand said, “At this point, I’ve not been able to determine where the miscommunication was on the house where the line was not disconnected. … That line did not get cut as it should have been or perhaps it wasn’t reported to us.” According to Durand, NSTAR is “looking into” the incident. “We’re investigating to find out what really happened.” According to a Framingham Fire Department report, a backhoe struck and broke a 60 pound (intermediate) gas line. Campus Police Lieutenant Bill Kelley said the department was notified about the severed gas line at 1:38 p.m. and arrived on scene at 1:39 p.m. The Framingham Fire and Police departments were also notified and arrived within minutes. The gas leak prompted the college to issue notifications to members of the campus community on the emergency notification system list. Residents inside Linsley Hall were notified over the loudspeaker. The first emergency notification system messages were sent to the campus community at 2:16 p.m., according to campus police records.
Kelley said the decision to send the notifications was “based on all available facts and based on what was happening” and the findings of the incident commander. Upon arriving at the scene, Kelley said he began directing Linsley Hall residents out of the building as a precaution, but there was no formal evacuation because the fire incident commander advised against it. Additionally, after NSTAR officials arrived at the scene and checked Linsley Hall, they concluded there was no gas in the building. “However, we got as many people out of the building prior to that and we did not let them re-enter the building, and we posted officers at all the egress points,” Kelley said. “We just wanted to be sure and keep everybody out until we were sure.” Linsley Hall residents who were originally directed out of the building were offered shuttle bus transportation. Rachel Lucking, director of student involvement and leadership development, “arranged for another shuttle bus” and “added a shuttle loop to Linsley Hall parking lot,” Kelley said. “This was a complete team effort.” Director of Facilities and Capital Planning Warren Fairbanks said, “It wasn’t a full evacuation. … Anyone who was in Linsley at the time and wanted to leave was directed out the back door and they weren’t allowing anyone into Linsley … until we got the all-clear from NSTAR.” According to Fairbanks, the gas line which was severed was located three to four feet under the surface and used to “service 14 Adams Road,” a house the college
owned and demolished “to prepare for the construction” of the new residence hall. “This accident occurred outside of the site - it was actually on town property,” he said. When the house was demolished, NSTAR was called out to sever the utilities, which included cutting and capping the gas service that went to the house, Fairbanks said. The new residence hall is being built by Consigli Construction Company. However, Tuesday’s excavation was being performed by a Consigli subcontractor. According to Fairbanks, the subcontractor’s work was “beyond the property line and in where the old sidewalk was.” Consigli had the electrical, telephone and water companies mark the underground utilities and according to Fairbanks, the company “followed procedure” and “received clearance to go ahead and dig. “I don’t want to point fingers at anyone. … There might have been some miscommunication between the utility NSTAR and Dig Safe as to where this pipe was severed because the information that Consigli received was that it was OK to dig the trench in the area they were digging in,” Fairbanks said. “The backhoe grabbed the pipe and broke the pipe and the gas came spewing out … because they broke it on the street side of where it was capped,” he added. NSTAR’s first response was to shut off the valve, Fairbanks said. According to Kelley, the gas was shut off at 2:29 p.m. -Continued on page 3