DENVER – Black Hills Energy teams continued to work to close the gas service for about 3,500 customers on Monday afternoon after three of their locations were vandalized over the weekend, and Pitkin County officials said that customers in the Aspen area would remain unheated and without hot water until at least Tuesday morning.
One of the locations vandalized on Saturday night was in the city of Aspen and the other two in Pitkin County. County and city officials said on Monday afternoon that a criminal investigation was underway.
The vandalism was noticed on Saturday night after customers reported loss of gas pressure and, as the investigation continued on Sunday, Black Hills Energy found more problems with the gas lines and started shutting down meters for affected customers.
Vance Crocker, the vice president of operations for Black Hills Energy, said Monday night during a virtual public meeting that the teams expected to have the system completely shut down on Monday night, and that the teams would then visit each one of the customer locations to ensure that lines are removed and can be returned safely and hopefully, although he did not specify a time when this would happen, although he said earlier in the day that he expected the process to be completed by 11 am pm Monday. Black Hills Energy plans to have around 100 employees from across the state working to restore the outage.
“We must first make sure that all gas meters are turned off and then purge the system so that it is ready for the reintroduction of the natural gas supply. Finally, our technicians will go from door to door and rekindle each customer’s gas appliances, ”said Crocker in a statement.
Black Hills Energy teams will begin turning on pilot lights for people and other gas-powered devices starting at 5 am on Tuesday, county officials said. They are asking that no one try to rekindle their devices on their own. People can call 888-890-5554 with non-emergency questions.
The FBI has been called in to assist in the investigation, as it involves critical public service infrastructure, and the investigation is being conducted by the Aspen police, according to APD’s Bill Linn.
Linn said the vandalism happened at the same time as Saturday and involved vandalism of closed gas pipes and that two of the three locations were opened and not inside buildings.
One of the sites had a group name, Earth First, written on it, but officials on Monday refused to elaborate on whether the name had anything to do with the vandalism. He said he did not believe that vandalism could qualify as terrorism.
“The word ‘attack’ has been used a lot,” said Pitkin County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Joe DiSalvo. “It is not the word I would use. It was an intentional attack to stop the gas service in and around Aspen. “
Physical evidence, including footprints, was recovered from the three scenes, officials said.
The crimes under investigation include endangering a public utility, theft and criminal tampering, Linn said.
A complaint line for the investigation was defined at 970-924-0614. The county prison operates on electric heating, DiSalvo said.
Linn said a limited number of heaters provided by Black Hills Energy are available for collection at Aspen police headquarters, located at 540 East Main Street. They left around 6:20 pm, but said there were 3,600 more on the way.
The city is asking people to park on the north side of Main Street or in parking spaces in front of the Concept 600 building. People who pull up and open the passenger windows will have heaters left inside for distribution without contact.
Heaters were also being distributed at Aspen fire station, located at 420 East Hopkins Avenue. The Pitkin County Sheriff’s Office asked people to take only one home.
Pitkin Community Alert for the Aspen Area (s): The Aspen Police Department has additional heaters that are being distributed at the Aspen Police Department and the Aspen Fire Department 420 E Hopkins Ave. We are asking you to take only 1 per house to preserve life, not pr
– Pitkin Co. Sheriff (@PitkinSheriff) December 29, 2020
People who are unable to attend the police station can request it by calling 970-920-5310 and a police officer will bring one for them as soon as possible.
Pitkin County and the city of Aspen are holding a community meeting on Monday at 6 pm at Zoom, which you can participate in by clicking here.
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