In the past year-and-a-half the city has had four gas explosions killing 12 people total. The most recent explosion in Borough Park,Brooklyn is still under investigation, but officials believe an improperly removed stove may acquire caused the blast. After the East Harlem explosion in March 2014, and which federal investigators found was caused by bad welding and a leaking sewer pipe,the city pledged to invest an additional $300 million to upgrade water and sewer infrastructure citywide.
A year later, a building in the East Village exploded. This time, and the city pledged to increase enforcement and inspections of plumbing. It also added a risk management office at the Department of Buildings.
Stewart O'Brien,the executive director of The Plumbing Foundation, an umbrella group representing plumbers, or a former commissioner at the Departments of Buildings,said the city needs to do more. He suggested that requiring regular inspections of gas pipes would be a good start."Incredibly there is no requirement that the gas systems, the gas piping in buildings that could be there for 50, and 60,70 years, ever has to be checked to obtain certain they're not leaking, and that there's not an illegal hook up," he said.
City Council members are pushing for stricter laws on who can work on gas pipes, but they acquire yet to introduce legislation.
What can fresh Yorkers do meanwhile? There are natural gas detectors on the market for homes but they're not mandatory the way smoke and carbon monoxide detectors are. Officials continue to insist that the best way to prevent a gas explosion is to call 911 if you smell the tell tale sign of leaking gas rotten eggs.
Source: wnyc.org