Nearly seven months after a fatal gas explosion shook a quiet Floral Park community to its core, the New York State Public Service Commission (PSC) has faulted Con Edison with failing to stave off the tragedy.
In a report issued Thursday, November 12, the PSC identified errors made by Con Ed’s first responder and questioned whether the utility company’s internal systems – such as its handling of gas odor reports and its dispatching process; its ability to contact emergency responders and provide them with adequate equipment; and its leak investigation procedures – are sufficient to prevent future calamities from occurring.
Had the unidentified Con Ed mechanic not made several errors, the report said, 40-year-old Ghanwatti Boodram would not have perished in the April 24 explosion that demolished her family’s home, damaged several others and resulted in numerous injuries.
Boodram is survived by her husband Dindial and three young boys, Kevin, Ryan and Chris. The family has sued Con Ed, according to published reports.
The principal criticism of Con Ed’s first responder, the PSC report said, was that after smelling a strong gas odor on 260th Street and obtaining positive readings, “he then spent approximately 26 minutes concentrating on establishing the outside gas leakage migration pattern rather than following other provisions of the procedures more critical to protecting life and property.”
In fact, a recent PSC notice related to its findings cited a management audit of Con Ed in which auditor Liberty Consulting Group said the utility giant “needs to change from a reactive to a proactive organization.”
The commission included several recommendations in its report, noting that Con Ed had already implemented a number of the enhancements to its emergency response procedures. Among the recommendations, the PSC advised Con Ed to modify the script used by customer service representatives to ensure that callers understand their instructions and intend to evacuate; revise its communication policies with employees who respond to emergencies and facilitate communication in “blind spots;” strategically place personnel throughout a given territory during each shift so that those who are assigned routine work can easily transition into an emergency situation; facilitate the identification of buildings and structures connected through underground electric facilities; provide better clarity and direction for leak investigations; and create a first responder equipment checklist.
Additionally, the commission recommended that Con Ed implement a process to correct instances in which gas and electric structures are too close to one another and identify reports of concurrent electric and gas problems so that additional crews and the Fire Department (FDNY) can be immediately dispatched.
For its part, Con Ed said in a statement that it recognizes “that lessons can and always should be learned from tragedies of this kind.” The company said it made several improvements to its response protocol in May, after consulting with the FDNY and the PSC.
In a news release PSC chairman Garry Brown commended his staff “for doing such a thorough investigation into this tragic gas explosion in Floral Park…”
The PSC has directed Con Ed to provide a response to its report by December 11. Interested parties may also comment on the report by the December 11 deadline.
