As one crisis is easing–Jersey Central Power & Light says 97 percent of Morristown is back online after Tropical Storm Irene–another one is heating up as local officials pressed a state regulatory board on Thursday to get to the bottom of Morristown’s exploding manhole covers after a woman was injured by one on Wednesday.
“It’s time for some answers,” said state Assemblyman Anthony M. Bucco (R-25th Dist), who pressed state Board of Public Utilities Executive Director Richard Jackson “to get a little more aggressive” with JCP&L during a meeting on Thursday morning in the office of Morristown Mayor Tim Dougherty.
The BPU director pledged to return by next Wednesday with preliminary answers from JCP&L about what caused the “switch failure” that blasted open a manhole at South and James streets, burning the woman with steam. The woman’s identity has not been released, but officials said her injuries were not life-threatening.
Morristown has been plagued for years by underground explosions and electrical fires. There still is no explanation about what caused a massive explosion at the Morristown & Township Library in May 2010, another source of irritation for the Assemblyman.
“We’ve been patient to this point,” he said, reiterating to the BPU that the district’s legislative team–himself; his father, state Sen. Anthony Bucco; and Assemblyman Michael Patrick Carroll–expect answers about the library and the recurring underground problems.
JCP&L and Public Service Electric & Gas both have denied responsibility for the library explosion.
The Mayor said that the BPU also pledged to examine how JCP&L has dealt with the temporary loss of its flooded Ridgedale Avenue substation, which powers Morristown and Morris Township. Of particular interest, the Mayor said, is how JCP&L has provided information since Irene blew through on Aug. 28.
His counterpart, Morris Township Mayor H. Scott Rosenbush, has criticized the utility for leaving local officials–and by extension, residents–literally in the dark about which neighborhoods are out of power and for how long.
Mayor Dougherty did note that experts have upgraded the scale of Irene; the Army Corps of Engineers has said this is the sort of flooding that only comes every 500 years.
“How do you plan for that?” asked the Mayor. Most engineering standards only are designed to withstand floods expected from a 100-year storm.
The Mayor said residents still may see scattered outages as JCP&L makes temporary adjustments. He also said the town will release information shortly about how business owners and residents can seek federal relief, now that President Obama has declared parts of New Jersey as major disaster areas.
Thursday’s meeting with the BPU was arranged by Sen. Bucco in conjunction with Gov. Christie’s office, the Mayor said. Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-11th Dist.), whose office is in Morristown, also contacted the Mayor to offer his assistance.
