By Steve Klamkin WPRO News
Gas was being reintroduced into the Newport distribution system five days after a low pressure reading forced the shutdown that left thousands without heat or hot meals and flocking to hotels for warmth.
“At about 11:45 this morning, we gave permission to activate the regulator station and start to repressurize gas in the system,” said National Grid Chief Gas Engineer Ross Turrini. “This is a complex and time-consuming process.”
He said it will still take days for crews, going-door -to door, to relight everyone’s appliances, and while the odor of gas should be present, he added, it remains a possibility.
“If you smell gas at any time, inside or outside your house during this process or any time after this process, call our gas emergency number,” he said. That number is 1-800-640-1595 or call 911.
At a mid-day news conference, Gov. Gina Raimondo said she has ordered an investigation into the cause of the outage by the Rhode Island Department of Public Utilities and Carriers, and said she has asked federal energy regulators who regulate the pipeline to also investigate.
“We don’t know what caused this, and rest assured, we will get to the bottom of it,” she said.
“I’d love to have school open on Monday, I’d love to have the key areas in Newport back open on Monday… safely,” she told WPRO News.
“We’re not out of the woods yet, we’re absolutely not out of the woods yet.”
Raimondo was asked if she is satisfied with the recovery.
“I’m not satisfied that we’re in this situation and … we’ve never seen anything like this in Rhode Island and it’s a serious issue, as I said. As far as National Grid’s response and the restoration effort, I think it’s going about as well as we can hope,” Raimondo said.
National Grid Chief Customer Officer Terence Sobolewski also urged customers to be wary of people going door to door, asking for customer information. He said people should respond only to National Grid workers who carry identification.
