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Boston councilors, utilities address repeated water-main breaks, heated groundwater in Chinatown and Leather District
Summary
City councilors, utility operators and residents met Sept. 16 in Chinatown to address repeated water‑main breaks, flooding and unusually hot groundwater and steam affecting buildings and sidewalks in Chinatown and the Leather District.
BOSTON — City councilors, utility operators and residents met at Josiah Quincy Upper School on Sept. 16 to review repeated water‑main breaks, flooding and reports of unusually hot groundwater and steam in Chinatown and the Leather District.
"Water and sewer pipes in our infrastructure are critical to our safety, quality of life, and growth of Boston," Councilor Ed Flynn said as he opened the hearing on docket 0768, which he and Councilor Julio Mejia sponsored. Flynn said a recent burst sprinkler pipe flooded buildings, displacing six units and affecting three properties.
The hearing combined testimony from residents who described repeated flooding and hot tap water with technical briefings from the Boston Water and Sewer Commission, the Boston Groundwater Trust, Vicinity Energy (the district steam operator), National Grid and Comcast.
Residents described concrete and sidewalk surfaces heated by steam, intermittent steam venting from manholes, and tap water temperatures they said reached roughly 100 degrees Fahrenheit in some units.…
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