By JEFF LIPTON
‹ utility workers recently came back to dig some more.
LIPA, which had been renovating an underground transmission line since September and finished the job a few months behind schedule in April, returned to the area at the beginning of May to repair a leak in the line.
The reappearance of construction equipment, which once again forced officials to close one lane of traffic, irritated Jerry Rosen, a resident of the area for 30 years. ³Right now, it¹s very annoying,² said Rosen, who is retired and has found other ways to get around his neighborhood. ³It¹s screwing up traffic beyond belief. It¹s all backed up.²
Rosen said he was particularly upset to see a construction trailer in the area and the installation of protective concrete barriers, indicating to him that the construction crews would be working on the problem for a while. ³At this point, it¹s got to be something drastic,² said Rosen. ³There¹s got to be something seriously wrong. The trailer indicates to me that they¹re there for the duration.²
That is not true, according to LIPA spokesman Michael Lowndes, who said that the repairs to the 69,000-volt transmission line feeding power to area homes and businesses should be wrapped up shortly, though he could not pinpoint a completion date. ³When these problems occur, we have to deal with it,² said Lowndes. ³Repairs need to be made from time to time.
³Some of what we recently installed became faulty, which is why we came back to the area,² Lowndes explained. ³They should be wrapped up soon.²
He added that many residents and shopkeepers prefer underground electrical lines to overhead wires. But when problems arise, the work involved in fixing the underground lines is more labor-intensive, and roads, like the northwest section of Lawson Boulevard, have to be ripped up, causing traffic delays. ³We are very concerned about that,² Lowndes said.
Business owners said they have been affected by the constant construction on their road. Gary Gitlin, owner of Railroad Cleaners across from the construction site, said he has heard complaints from customers ³all day long² about the trouble they had getting to his shop. ³It¹s an inconvenience, but there¹s nothing you can do about it,² said Gitlin. ³It¹s dangerous, it¹s definitely dangerous.²
LIPA began the project last September by installing a 4,000-plus-foot transmission circuit pipeline, which encases a 138-kilovolt cable, from Ocean and Atlantic avenues in East Rockaway to Lawson Boulevard and Weidner Avenue in Oceanside. LIPA had spent most of the summer of 2005 replacing a section of the pipe on Lawson, one block west of Anchor, after it leaked thousands of gallons of nontoxic dielectric fluid, a coolant for the high-voltage cable inside the pipe, into the surrounding ground, and tidal water carried the substance into the creek and neighboring East Rockaway Channel.
Lowndes said the latest project involved replacing this liquid-based coolant with a solid one. The newer coolant, which is made from the same material, will greatly reduce the risk of more material escaping into the surrounding soil or into the area¹s high water table, he said.
The project was expected to be finished by Dec. 1, 2006, but several setbacks, including equipment delays, difficulty coordinating multiple contractors and dealing with frigid temperatures, prolonged the work, Lowndes said. The revised timetable called for coolant replacement to be completed by Feb. 20, with road surface repairs completed by early spring.
Rosen complained that no one has told residents what is going on now, even though Lowndes said that meetings have been held to let them know what is happening. ³We have community relations people who are working with the local community and meeting with them,² Lowndes said.
Comments about this story? JLipton@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 210.
