By Alex Costello
The leak, near the corner of Waterford Road and Nassau Lane North, occurred when a contractor replacing drain boxes on the street accidentally hit a pipe beneath a block of sidewalk just before 10:30 a.m. “They were repairing storm drains on the north end of town, on the corner,” said Island Park Fire Chief Mike Gagliardi. “When they lifted the sidewalk tab, the main was directly below it and they punctured it.”
Whenever construction work is done on a street or sidewalk, contractors are required to contact the local gas company -- in this case National Grid -- for what is called a “mark out.” Representatives of the gas company mark the location of any gas or water lines beneath the construction site with paint.
The area being worked on was marked out by National Grid, but, according to Gagliardi, the contractor claims that National Grid painted the markings incorrectly. Elizabeth Margulies, a public relations representative of the Long Island branch of National Grid, said that the company is still investigating the
accident.
Because of the leak, the Island Park Fire Department evacuated a handful of houses in the immediate area as well as the Department of Public Works building. The IPFD also called in trucks from the Long Beach Fire Department to help with the leak, and asked the Oceanside and Point Lookout departments to stand by for possible calls in Island Park.
“It affected the traffic pattern coming out of our village because they had to close that part of Long Beach Road going over the [railroad] tracks,” Island Park Mayor Jim Ruzicka explained. The IPFD also shut down the Long Beach Branch of the LIRR for about two and a half hours. According to Gagliardi, however, “By 2:30 that afternoon, everything was back to normal.”
There were no injuries, but one woman reported feeling nauseous and was brought to Winthrop University Hospital for a routine checkup.
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liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 207.
