Thursday, 4:30 PM
Asbestos incident may snag morning rush hour downtown
By Martin Finucane, Globe Staff
The chief executive of Trigen Energy Companies has promised a complete investigation of the steam pipe rupture Wednesday that sent a plume of steam -- and some asbestos -- shooting into the sky on a downtown street.
"We are running a safe operation. We inspect our system on a daily basis. ... We'll find out what went wrong," said Lance Ahearn.
Asbestos tests were expected to continue into this morning in the area near Otis and Summer streets where the steam was released.
Transportation Commissioner Thomas J. Tinlin said cleanup of the area would also continue into this morning and streets in the area might still be closed for this morning's rush hour.
The incident began about noon Wednesday. No one was injured, but a host of local and state agencies raced to the scene, concerned about the asbestos release.
James W. Hunt, the city's chief of environmental and energy services, said Wednesday evening that officials believed the contamination was confined to a "very limited area."
Larry Plitch, general counsel for the Trigen Companies, said some of the older steam pipes in the city are insulated with asbestos.
Plitch said tests had indicated that there was asbestos in a brown material that spewed, along with the steam, out of the manhole.
