Repairs on ruptured pipe to keep lane closed in Boston
One lane of New Chardon Street in front of the Edward W. Brooke Courthouse will remain closed while city and Trigen-Boston Energy Corp. officials conduct street and underground repair work where a steam pipe burst during the weekend.
The rupture, which sent asbestos-tinged asphalt and dust flying over a 50-foot area, occurred just after 1:30 p.m. Saturday, causing the evacuation of a three-story group home but causing no injuries.
It was the second steam-pipe break on city streets in less than a month.
Boston Fire Department spokesman Steve MacDonald said yesterday testing of the site indicated no health risks.
"Everything came back negative," he said. "The air at the site was always within normal limits."
MacDonald said air-quality tests will continue during the repair work.
He said there were no people walking in the area, which includes the courthouse, a parking garage, and the group home.
Owners of the home evacuated the residents overnight Saturday, but the building was reoccupied yesterday, MacDonald said.
Nancy Sterling, a spokeswoman for the pipe owner, Trigen-Boston, said the company received state and city approvals for cleanup and repair work Saturday night. Cleanup was completed yesterday, she said.
She could not say how long the repairs would take.
"We don't really know until we get down there how long it will be," she said yesterday.
She said an investigation of the explosion's cause would take about two weeks.
"Our experience would show that it is most likely an expansion joint that gave away," she said. Expansion joints allow pipes to expand and contract with hot and cold temperatures.
Trigen-Boston operates a 22-mile network of steam pipes beneath the city.
The asbestos, which was found in trace amounts in the dust on cars in the immediate area, came from material that was wrapped around the pipe, Sterling said.
A spokeswoman for Mayor Thomas M. Menino, who has pushed for more local oversight of underground steam pipes, called the explosion "troubling."
"In general, it's another example of why local oversight is needed over companies such as Trigen," said Jennifer Mehigan.
Menino has proposed legislation that would put responsibility for regulation of steam pipes under the state Department of Public Utilities, which oversees electricity and gas providers.
A 14-inch steam pipe, also owned by Trigen-Boston, burst in the Financial District on Sept. 12, prompting street closings as the asbestos was cleaned up.
The company said at the time that it would conduct a safety inspection of its distribution network within 90 days.
Tania deLuzuriaga of the Globe staff contributed to this report.
