A reckoning after the shock
Menino vows action as 4th dog affected
By Mac Daniel, Globe Staff, 3/4/2004
A Hungarian Vizsla named Crumb walked out of a veterinary hospital with a singed paw yesterday after she became the fourth dog in Boston electrically shocked by exposed underground wires in the past four months. Across town, Mayor Thomas M. Menino vowed to press for legislation to fine utilities up to
DEADLY STREET SHOCK
By HASANI GITTENS, ZACH HABERMAN, and CLEMENTE LISI
January 17, 2004 -- A woman was electrocuted on an East Village street yesterday after her two dogs stepped onto a snow-covered, electricity-charged utility box, police said.
Jodi Lane, 30, was crossing East 11th Street near Veniero's Pastry Shop around 6:20 p.m. when her two pets started "freaking out" and looked like they were attacking each other, witnesses said.
Lane, who lived around the corner on East 12th Street, feverishly tried to separate the dogs.
She then screamed for help from passers-by and employees of the pastry shop.
"The dogs were fighting and making a lot of noise," said Jacob King, 21, who works the cash register at Veniero's. "She was trying to separate them. The dogs were making a horrible noise and growling and snorting loudly."
A woman, who identified herself only as Meg, said she tried to help, but realized Lane and her dogs had been hit by a jolt of electricity.
"At first I thought she had gotten bit by the dog, but then I realized she had been electrocuted," she said. "They were all being electrocuted."
King said Lane suddenly "fell down" and stopped moving. "She never got up," he said.
"She was just lying in the gutter motionless," said witness Robert Zerilli. "You would never think something like this could happen to anyone."
Police and firefighters arrived minutes later, but, fearing they'd be electrocuted themselves, were reluctant to touch her.
A female police officer suffered an electrical shock when she got too close. The officer was taken to Bellevue Hospital, where she spent the night.
Witnesses said it was 25 minutes before EMS workers began trying to resuscitate Lane.
She was taken to Beth Israel Hospital, where she was declared dead at 7:30 p.m.
Lane may have been zapped by a bunch of uninsulated wires when she tried to separate the dogs and was electrocuted by a surge that traveled through them, cops said.
A police source said a neighborhood resident took the dogs to a private veterinarian and then to his apartment.
City streets hold many so-called "hot spots" - ground-level utility boxes where underground power lines meet.
Salt and other corrosives often erode the insulation in and around the boxes - and salt-laced snow and slush are a potent conductor of electricity.
Con Edison spokesman Chris Olert said the company is looking into what happened.
"We're checking out if there were currents involved," he said.
Lane's landlord, John Black, said Jodi was a "beautiful person" who moved into the building a year ago with her boyfriend, Alex.
"She was a very pleasant person," he said. "Everything you could say about this girl is positive."
Black said Jodi and Alex held rooftop parties in the summer and invited all the tenants.
"Everyone is shocked," he said. "All the tenants called me up crying about this."
http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/15917.htm
[edit: A weird follow up although no human died a dog did in similar circumstances:
Stray street voltage electrocutes dog
Charlestown residents say their complaints were ignored
By Jessica Bennett and David Abel, Globe Correspondent and Globe Staff, 2/5/2004
Thirteen-year-old Elizabeth Morton woke up this morning to a quiet household, absent the playful noises of her beloved dog Oscar, a 115-pound yellow Labrador she had groomed from puppydom.
As Elizabeth and her father walked him in the rain around 8 p.m. Tuesday, the 6-year-old dog started yelping and writhing and collapsed on the sidewalk at Warren and Winthrop streets in Charlestown. He appeared to have been electrocuted.
Neighbors quickly gathered, and people who tried to lift Oscar felt small electrical jolts.
While NStar acknowledged yesterday that their system might have contributed to the dog's death, neighbors said that they have complained about the electricity problem in the past and that it should have been dealt with sooner.
NStar officials were repairing what they labeled a "hot spot," a portion of the corner that was alive with 100 volts of electricity, according to a troubleshooter at the site, who declined to be named.
He said hot spots are not uncommon this time of year because the salt used to de-ice the sidewalks serves as a conductor. The salt also has been known to eat through wiring and electrify metal grates -- as it did recently in the death of a New York woman.
The death of Oscar and several similar incidents reflect a problem for cities where bad weather requires the use of salt near electrical outlets, but Lisa Timberlake, a spokeswoman for Boston Inspectional Services, said she thinks Oscar's death was an anomaly.
"This was a terrible accident. We're very sorry about the dog. But this is an NStar issue. We asked them to provide us with a report. Water leaked into the circuit. We're not concerned this is a larger problem. We believe this was an accident." The electrical line that triggered Oscar's death runs 2 or 3 feet underground and carries about 120 volts, which is regular voltage for a household, NStar officials said.
"It was enough to electrocute a dog," the NStar troubleshooter said. "It's hard to say what it could do to a person."
In a statement last night, NStar spokeswoman Christina McKenna said there may have been a short circuit in a cable that had been abandoned beneath the street. "It appears it energized the area around it. The wet weather . . . likely created a path for the electricity, with which the dog appeared to come in contact."
McKenna said she had "never heard of anything like this."
She said it is unusual that the stray voltage would be picked up over the pavement.
"We have no indication at all that this is a larger problem, but we're doing everything we can to investigate this as thoroughly as we can. . . . We're very concerned about it," she said.
It has happened before.
Neighbors said they've seen other dogs electrocuted on the same corner. Warren Street resident Lydia Locke, 36, said she avoids walking on the corner where Warren and Winthrop streets intersect. She said she witnessed another dog being shocked in February 2003 at the same spot.
"There has got to be some negligence there," Locke said.
In February 2000, a another dog died at Shawmut Avenue and West Newton Street in the South End. A 65-pound red vizsla was electrocuted as his owner walked him over a manhole. At that time, Julie Fothergill of the city's Inspectional Services Department called it a "highly unusual and freak accident."
In New York City last month, Jodie Lane, 30, was electrocuted when she walked her dog on East 11th Street. The electrified plate that killed her registered 57 volts. In response to Lane's death, Con Edison conducted a citywide sweep and found 110 hot spots -- with 30 of the areas charged with more than 50 volts.
For Oscar's family and the Charlestown neighbors who have rallied behind the Mortons, these accidents raise concerns about the city's ability to address the problem. "The sad thing is that this has been ignored," George Morton, Elizabeth's father, said yesterday. "It took this tragedy for it to be recognized -- thank God it wasn't a kid. Hopefully, this issue will be resolved now. But the emotional angle here is that there's a 13-year-old girl who lost her puppy."
Jennifer Smartt, who was on her way home from work Tuesday when she saw a group huddled around the dog, said she was angered by the city and NStar's slow reaction to residents' concerns. "What got Charlestown upset is that we made all these calls and no one responded."
"Nobody seemed to want to help," added Morton, who said he called NStar after the electrocution, but no one showed up.
McKenna said troubleshooters were sent to the scene late Tuesday, but found no one.
"We next heard about it (yesterday) morning from the city. We were told a dog was electrocuted," she said.
"First and foremost, it's a tragedy, but there's a greater issue of the infrastructure in the city," said Smartt. "People need to be responded to, and that didn't happen at that time."
NStar officials offered condolences and restitution to the Mortons yesterday, but no agreement had been reached last night.
An official from the mayor's office also contacted the family.
"We all agree you can't replace a lost pet, but we have discussed some things to let the owner know how sorry we are and how we can replace his loss," McKenna said. "We also want to reassure the neighbors of Charlestown that the stray voltage problem has been corrected. The area has been made safe. We're conducting a thorough investigation to find out what happened."
But for Elizabeth, a week after her 13th birthday, nothing can replace the silly, playful puppy she grew up with.
"He always greeted you at the door," the Boston Latin Academy student said. "Carrots were his favorite snack."
http://www.boston.com/news/local/ma.../02/05/stray_street_voltage_electrocutes_dog/
Clearly such freak accidents happen more than we'd like to think]
[edit2: Another follow up:
A reckoning after the shock
Menino vows action as 4th dog affected
By Mac Daniel, Globe Staff, 3/4/2004
A Hungarian Vizsla named Crumb walked out of a veterinary hospital with a singed paw yesterday after she became the fourth dog in Boston electrically shocked by exposed underground wires in the past four months. Across town, Mayor Thomas M. Menino vowed to press for legislation to fine utilities up to $1 million in such cases, and he asked Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly to help hold NStar and the state agency that regulates utilities accountable.
Meanwhile a draft report by Boston's Inspectional Services Division found NStar responsible for the spate of electric shocks, some of them not previously reported. The report, prompted by the death of a yellow Labrador retriever in Charlestown last month, also found that a seeing-eye dog was shocked Feb. 10 on Washington Street.
"NStar continually pledges commitments, and they don't follow through," Menino said yesterday. "Now again, there's a crisis and they react. There's a lack of oversight and preventive maintenance by NStar. Dogs are precious to individuals. What if next time it's a person? What happens if that was a child?"
NStar said the zapping of Crumb in Chinatown on Tuesday night resulted from damage to an NStar line by another utility. The power company called an afternoon news conference to announce plans to inspect some 30,000 manholes citywide.
"We want this problem to be fixed as much as anyone," said NStar spokeswoman Christina McKenna. "But this last incident was an egregious violation. We were never notified of this [damage], and there was obviously no intention of notifying us or making the situation safe. Literally, the whole thing was covered up."
The draft report, however, found that the incidents are "directly related to the failure of NStar to adequately require the insulation and integrity of electrical equipment, wires, conduits, and connection." The report also blamed NStar for a lack of line maintenance, asserting that the utility's failure to remove abandoned underground cable caused the death of Oscar, the Charlestown dog.
"This apparent disregard of legal requirements, combined with the apparent lack of any affirmative ongoing maintenance plan, left unresolved, could result in the injury or death to people traveling the public way in Boston," the report says.
Pledges of swift action abounded yesterday.
Paul G. Afonzo, chairman of the Department of Telecommunications and Energy, said: "I welcome the AG and the mayor's suggestions here. . . . We're prepared to listen to the entire argument, but we're going to hold people accountable."
Alice Moore, chief of the attorney general's public protection bureau, said four years of requests to DTE to hold NStar and other utilities accountable for service quality standards have not been met. DTE fined NStar $3.25 million in 2001 for a series of blackouts in the Boston area, but Moore said her office had asked for a $22 million fine.
"People shouldn't be concerned about walking down the streets with dogs and kids and hitting electrical lines," Moore said. "These issues highlight the need for attention to the safety of our electrical systems."
Utility officials acknowledged they do no regular inspections of contractor repairs or routinely search for stray electricity. The causes of electrified manholes and sidewalks vary, but water and salt are largely blamed for the erosion of insulation around power lines. Water then allows the electricity to be conducted to the surface. In many of the incidents, including Tuesday's, dogs get shocked as they stand in water on or near a manhole.
Werner Schweiger, NStar's vice president of electric and gas operations, recommended stiffer penalties against anyone who fails to report damage caused to underground electric cables.
The Chinatown incident has sparked concern citywide over live wires underground, especially after the death of Oscar, the Labrador that was killed in Charlestown.
NStar blamed that incident on contractors who tore down a nearby building without notifying NStar to shut off a line. "We have no indication at all that this is a larger problem," McKenna said Feb. 4.
However, NStar was made aware of a similar incident on Dec. 8 when a Mission Hill man and his dog were shocked by an electrified manhole while on a walk.
The owner of the dog, John Toner, told his lawyer, Tom Healy, that his dog Blue began yelping after stepping on a manhole cover in the middle of Delle Avenue. When Toner grabbed Blue, a shock knocked him off his feet and caused him to lose strength in one arm, Healy said.
Healy wrote NStar a letter Dec. 18 about the incident and received acknowledgment that it was received.
Concern over "zap zones" peaked in January after a 30-year-old woman was electrocuted in New York City as she walked her dogs and fell on the electrified lid of a service box.
New York State officials have accused Consolidated Edision of failing to listen to previous warnings about stray electrical current and of not spending enough money to maintain and inspect its aging system of underground wires.
Councilor at Large Maura Hennigan has called a hearing Monday on the incidents.
"I think it is everybody's responsibility," Hennigan said, "but I think it's the responsibility of the city to set up a process where there is accountability."
She plans to call on city officials to create an oversight process for all utility work in the city. She also is going to suggest a hot line for people to report exposed wires.
Meanwhile, Dr. Courtney Peck, the veterinarian who treated Crumb and Blue, encouraged dog walkers to walk around puddles and any metal in their path. "Obviously, stay away from manholes," she said. "You just never know."
Crumb's owner, Nora Hayes, 34, said she had not heard from NStar or senior city officials by late yesterday afternoon. "This incident isn't so much about myself and Crumb, but about a serious safety hazard that the city of Boston is facing," Hayes said.
"They already have canine blood on their hands. This is a call to action to Menino to get NStar to find out what is going on."
million in such cases, and he asked Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly to help hold NStar and the state agency that regulates utilities accountable.
Meanwhile a draft report by Boston's Inspectional Services Division found NStar responsible for the spate of electric shocks, some of them not previously reported. The report, prompted by the death of a yellow Labrador retriever in Charlestown last month, also found that a seeing-eye dog was shocked Feb. 10 on Washington Street.
"NStar continually pledges commitments, and they don't follow through," Menino said yesterday. "Now again, there's a crisis and they react. There's a lack of oversight and preventive maintenance by NStar. Dogs are precious to individuals. What if next time it's a person? What happens if that was a child?"
NStar said the zapping of Crumb in Chinatown on Tuesday night resulted from damage to an NStar line by another utility. The power company called an afternoon news conference to announce plans to inspect some 30,000 manholes citywide.
"We want this problem to be fixed as much as anyone," said NStar spokeswoman Christina McKenna. "But this last incident was an egregious violation. We were never notified of this [damage], and there was obviously no intention of notifying us or making the situation safe. Literally, the whole thing was covered up."
The draft report, however, found that the incidents are "directly related to the failure of NStar to adequately require the insulation and integrity of electrical equipment, wires, conduits, and connection." The report also blamed NStar for a lack of line maintenance, asserting that the utility's failure to remove abandoned underground cable caused the death of Oscar, the Charlestown dog.
"This apparent disregard of legal requirements, combined with the apparent lack of any affirmative ongoing maintenance plan, left unresolved, could result in the injury or death to people traveling the public way in Boston," the report says.
Pledges of swift action abounded yesterday.
Paul G. Afonzo, chairman of the Department of Telecommunications and Energy, said: "I welcome the AG and the mayor's suggestions here. . . . We're prepared to listen to the entire argument, but we're going to hold people accountable."
Alice Moore, chief of the attorney general's public protection bureau, said four years of requests to DTE to hold NStar and other utilities accountable for service quality standards have not been met. DTE fined NStar .25 million in 2001 for a series of blackouts in the Boston area, but Moore said her office had asked for a million fine.
"People shouldn't be concerned about walking down the streets with dogs and kids and hitting electrical lines," Moore said. "These issues highlight the need for attention to the safety of our electrical systems."
Utility officials acknowledged they do no regular inspections of contractor repairs or routinely search for stray electricity. The causes of electrified manholes and sidewalks vary, but water and salt are largely blamed for the erosion of insulation around power lines. Water then allows the electricity to be conducted to the surface. In many of the incidents, including Tuesday's, dogs get shocked as they stand in water on or near a manhole.
Werner Schweiger, NStar's vice president of electric and gas operations, recommended stiffer penalties against anyone who fails to report damage caused to underground electric cables.
The Chinatown incident has sparked concern citywide over live wires underground, especially after the death of Oscar, the Labrador that was killed in Charlestown.
NStar blamed that incident on contractors who tore down a nearby building without notifying NStar to shut off a line. "We have no indication at all that this is a larger problem," McKenna said Feb. 4.
However, NStar was made aware of a similar incident on Dec. 8 when a Mission Hill man and his dog were shocked by an electrified manhole while on a walk.
The owner of the dog, John Toner, told his lawyer, Tom Healy, that his dog Blue began yelping after stepping on a manhole cover in the middle of Delle Avenue. When Toner grabbed Blue, a shock knocked him off his feet and caused him to lose strength in one arm, Healy said.
Healy wrote NStar a letter Dec. 18 about the incident and received acknowledgment that it was received.
Concern over "zap zones" peaked in January after a 30-year-old woman was electrocuted in New York City as she walked her dogs and fell on the electrified lid of a service box.
New York State officials have accused Consolidated Edision of failing to listen to previous warnings about stray electrical current and of not spending enough money to maintain and inspect its aging system of underground wires.
Councilor at Large Maura Hennigan has called a hearing Monday on the incidents.
"I think it is everybody's responsibility," Hennigan said, "but I think it's the responsibility of the city to set up a process where there is accountability."
She plans to call on city officials to create an oversight process for all utility work in the city. She also is going to suggest a hot line for people to report exposed wires.
Meanwhile, Dr. Courtney Peck, the veterinarian who treated Crumb and Blue, encouraged dog walkers to walk around puddles and any metal in their path. "Obviously, stay away from manholes," she said. "You just never know."
Crumb's owner, Nora Hayes, 34, said she had not heard from NStar or senior city officials by late yesterday afternoon. "This incident isn't so much about myself and Crumb, but about a serious safety hazard that the city of Boston is facing," Hayes said.
"They already have canine blood on their hands. This is a call to action to Menino to get NStar to find out what is going on."
.
