Menino urges regulation of steam pipes under city

Mayor Thomas M. Menino pushed a proposal yesterday to regulate subterranean steam pipes in Boston after an explosion tore open a street in midtown Manhattan during rush hour Wednesday.

Unlike in New York, there is little government oversight of the 22-mile network of pipes that carries steam beneath Boston to help heat and cool 240 office, hospital, and hotel buildings, including City Hall, the New England Aquarium, and New England Medical Center.

A spate of burns and minor injuries have resulted from leaks and other problems with steam pipes in Boston, Menino said. But the city has had no authority to force repairs or inspect the steam-delivery system that runs beneath some of the most congested parts of the city.

With pipes more than a half-century old in some places, the system urgently needs oversight, Menino said at a press conference yesterday.

"For so long, this infrastructure was neglected," he said. "It's an issue that has to be addressed, must be addressed."

The mayor called on the Legislature to act quickly on a bill he proposed in December seeking to put responsibility for regulation of steam under the state Department of Public Utilities, which oversees electricity and gas providers.

Representative Brian S. Dempsey of Haverhill, a Democrat and cochairman of the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities, and Energy, said yesterday that there is "great concern" on Beacon Hill and that the panel is giving the bill serious consideration.

Almost all the steam pipes that run beneath Boston streets are owned by Trigen, which generates steam at a plant in Chinatown. Menino said the company has been recently working with his administration to ensure that the system is safe. Some other Massachusetts cities, including Cambridge, have smaller underground networks for steam.

Three years ago, leaks from Trigen pipes inflicted second-degree burns on a 2-year-old who fell onto a scorching manhole cover at East Newton Street and Harrison Avenue. In 2004, a Jamaica Plain woman was blasted with steam from a manhole at Stuart and Clarendon streets.

Steam pouring from a manhole snarled rush hour traffic on Congress Street in May. And a Chinatown resident has complained that an underground steam pipe overheated a wall in his basement, where he said he recorded temperatures as high as 116 degrees. Earlier this year, a 6-year-old boy was burned by steam while walking over a manhole cover on State Street near the New England Aquarium.

"Anytime you're dealing with energy -- gas, electric, or steam -- there are risks," said James W. Hunt, the city's chief of environmental and energy services. "Our intent is not to get rid of steam energy. We just want to make sure the proper oversight is in place."

In New York City Wednesday, a steam pipe explosion near Grand Central Terminal overturned a tow truck, smashed windshields, and showered debris across one of the busiest parts of the city. One person was killed, and 30 others were injured. The pipes in New York are maintained by Consolidated Edison, and the blast is believed to have occurred when cold water entered a pipe that dated to 1924.

Rowen Sanders, a Trigen spokesman, said that the company opposes state oversight and that officials have been working with the city over the last several months to address concerns.

"Safety is our number one concern, just as it is for the mayor's office," Sanders said. "There's just a disagreement between the parties over how to achieve that. We don't feel that a state agency regulating us will improve the situation. We think the local government working with us does the job."

Trigen officials said the company sends crews out each day to check for leaks. The company also has started installing manhole covers made of a polymer composite material that have stronger seals and don't get as hot as steel covers.

Trigen's plant can pump 1.7 million pounds of steam per hour. Steam as hot as 350 degrees travels through the insulated pipes to buildings, where it circulates through radiators for heat or powers turbines on air conditioning systems.

It was announced last month that Trigen's parent company, Thermal North America Inc., will be sold for $788 million to Boston-based Veolia Energy North America, which is part of Veolia Environment of Paris.

Matt Viser can be reached at maviser@globe.com.