What some officials are characterizing as an attack on Aspen’s critical infrastructure during the busiest week of the year will leave city residents and businesses without heating or hot water for most of Monday and possibly until Tuesday.
Climate, temperatures and deep snow have slowed Black Hills Energy employees, who are expected to visit each of the approximately 3,500 affected natural gas meters and turn them off, Black Hills spokeswoman Carly West said early in the morning. Monday.
A community meeting was scheduled for 6 pm on Monday to provide updates on the outage. In a Pitkin alert at 1:30 pm, officials said the details of the meeting will be posted on Monday at pitkincounty.com.
Black Hills expects to have all meters turned off on Monday afternoon and then conduct a system bleed and pressure test before returning to visit each of the 3,500 gas meters and turning them back on, she said.
“We are hopeful that we can start re-lighting for residential customers (Monday) at night,” said West early Monday morning.
The company’s timeline for re-igniting 3,500 individual pilot lights has been updated in the Pitkin Alert and said they will run until 11pm on Monday and then continue on Tuesday from 5am.
According to the Pitkin Alert, customers can smell a weak natural gas due to controlled release when lines are purged.
“This is normal and expected and is the first step in the multi-step process. From tonight until 11 pm, some customers will see BHE employees at their doorstep to ensure the safe delivery of natural gas and to rekindle the appliances, ”said the alert. “The rekindling process will continue tomorrow, starting at 5 am. Do not try to re-ignite the devices yourself. Make sure that someone over 18 years of age is present and that all animals are safe. “
A snowstorm is expected in the Aspen area, with temperatures expected between 20 and 20 on Tuesday and Wednesday.
She encouraged homeowners to help technicians by using a broom or hands to discover gas meters. Do not use hard or sharp objects to clear snow from meters.
A press release from Black Hills on Sunday said that the vandalism of several of the company’s “assets” caused the gas service to be interrupted in an area that covered only the Aspen area. The fact that a person or persons hit more than one gas transfer location appears to point to an intentional attack only in the city of Aspen during what is traditionally the busiest week of the year.
“It’s almost an act of terrorism for me,” said Pitkin County Commissioner Patti Clapper, who was unheated at her home in the Smuggler Mountains area. “It is trying to destroy a mountainous community at the height of the holiday season. This was not a national gas failure. This was a purposeful act.
“Someone is looking to make some kind of statement.”
West declined to immediately answer questions about whether what happened was an attack of any kind, exactly how many sites were vandalized and whether any information about who was responsible was left at the scene. She said she would return to the media with more information on Monday.
Pitkin County Manager Jon Peacock said on Monday that he was not ready to characterize the gas fall as an “attack” because he needed more investigation. However, if it was vandalism, the consequences – whether intentional or not – are hurting people and companies that are already recovering from the effects of COVID-19.
“This is having a big impact on people’s lives,” said Peacock. “If it was an intentional act – this is unbelievable.”
Police sources were quiet on Monday morning about the vandalism, although Pitkin County sheriff Joe DiSalvo promised answers on Monday.
“I am committed to being 100% transparent with the community about what happened and how it happened,” he said. “That’s when people need to hear the government’s honesty.”
Andrew Travers / The Aspen Times
Aspen’s assistant police chief, Bill Linn, declined to comment on Monday.
Meanwhile, Black Hills Energy imported between 110 and 120 technicians to Aspen to help alleviate the crisis, said West.
In addition, the company was bringing in some 1,500 space heaters from Denver, although their arrival depended on the weather, she said. A distribution system for the heaters has not yet been designed, said West.
This is a developing story that will be updated.