Thursday, 4:30 PM
Steam pipe was being repaired when it burst
By Andrew Ryan, Globe Staff
The 14-inch steam pipe that burst and spewed asbestos in downtown Boston was being repaired when an expansion joint between two pipes apparently ruptured, according to a preliminary investigation, a spokeswoman for Trigen Energy Cos. said today.
A routine inspection in the last two weeks found a problem with the pipe underneath Otis Street, and two workers for Trigen and a subcontractor hired by the company were making repairs when there was an explosion at noon Wednesday. Trigen is conducting a formal investigation that will include interviews of the employees who were working on the pipe, said Nancy Sterling, a company spokeswoman.
"We don't expect we are going to have a cause probably for a few weeks," Sterling said.
No one was injured in the blast, but the three workers and a passerby had to be decontaminated at local hospitals, Sterling said. Pipe insulation containing asbestos was shot high in the air and coated a portion of the block with brown dust.
James W. Hunt, the city's chief of environmental and energy services, said Wednesday that officials believed the contamination was confined to a "very limited area." The city did not return phone messages this morning inquiring about air quality tests and the environmental impact.
All streets in Downtown Crossing reopened this morning with the exception of the block of Otis Street where the pipe burst, between Summer and Franklin streets.
Trigen operates 22 miles of subterranean steam pipes in metropolitan Boston that are used to heat and cool buildings.
