Results tagged “utilities”

A gas leak earlier today inside the Cuban Interests Section of the Swiss Embassy caused part of 16th Street NW to be closed between Euclid St. and Columbia Rd. The road has since reopened and Washington Gas Co. was on the scene to address the leak.

Brentwood Road NE is currently closed from Rhode Island Ave. to Saratoga Ave. due to a gas leak, according to District Department of Transportation spokesperson John Lisle. A construction crew working in the area caused the leak when they struck an underground gas line, Lisle said.

Some folks in Columbia Heights are reporting that their power has been out since last night. DCist first got word of the outage at around 10 p.m. Monday night, which occurred thanks to a smoking manhole at 1328 Park Rd NW. The affected areas are along parts of Park Road between 11th and 13th Streets NW, 13th Street between Kenyon and Park, and Monroe between 13th and 11th. Others in the same area, however, have reported no problems. Pepco's outage map shows that over 400 customers continue to be without power this morning, with an estimated repair time currently listed at 3 p.m.

The District Department of Transportation reports that as of about 11:45 a.m., a water main break has forced 16th Street NW to close in both directions between V Street and Euclid Street. The main break occurred in the 2400 block of 16th Street NW.

A few D.C. public schools may have been down to the wire when it came to completing renovations and repairs for the first day of school today, but parents at Garfield Elementary School can hardly blame DCPS for a water main break that shut the school down this morning. Repair work began at around 10 a.m. on a 12" water main that broke at 22nd Street and Southern Ave. SE this morning, but in the meantime, the Garfield campus has been left without running water. WJLA is reporting that Garfield students are being moved to Winston and Stanton Elementary Schools until the water comes back on. Talk about a hectic first day for these kids.

A power outage affecting between 200-400 customers in the vicinity of 14th and Belmont Streets NW is expected to be repaired in the next couple of hours, but may affect rush hour traffic heading up 14th Street or 15th Streets this evening. Pepco is working to restore a blown feeder in the area, but we've got conflicting reports as to whether any traffic signals are currently down. Proceed with caution in that direction this evening.

Police and fire officials blocked off both Florida Ave NW and Belmont Street NW between 13th and 14th Streets to clean up flooding caused by multiple water main breaks near the area.

If your route home takes you through Thomas Circle, you're being advised to find an alternate route this evening thanks to some downed electrical wires. The wires are blocking eastbound traffic on Massachusetts Avenue NW at the entrance to the tunnel under Thomas Circle, according to DDOT. All eastbound traffic must detour around the circle in order to continue on Massachusetts. Emergency crews are already on scene and PEPCO is on its way.

Via the Post's Get There blog, Pepco is reporting a major power outage affecting the H Street NE corridor, along with other spots in Northeast D.C. Roughly 1,400 customers are currently affected by the outage, according to Pepco's outage map, with an estimated restoration time currently slated for 5 p.m.

We received several reports of a booming, explosion-like noise coming from a parking garage near 16th and L Streets NW just before 11:30 a.m. D.C. Fire/EMS spokesperson Alan Etter tells us that the fire department responded to what turned out to be an electrical failure with some Pepco equipment, possibly a transformer, at that location. No visible fire resulted from the short circuit, but we did hear some smoke was visible in the area immediately after the booming noise. Etter described the incident as "not a big deal."

DDOT reports that H Street NE has been closed between 5th and 7th Streets due to a gas main break. The gas leak is reportedly at 624 H Street NE, right outside the H Street Self Storage building. Traffic is being detoured around the area.

Here at DCist Storm Command Central, we're about 15 minutes away from declaring this last week an official Deluge '09 Event (loyal readers may recall the previous incarnation of this designation, Deluge '06). The latest press release from the District Department of Transportation is really pushing this decision over the top. Could Davy DCist be on his way down to DCist HQ? Check back in later to find out.

In the event you had been planning on stopping by The Apple Store, Pottery Barn or any other chain retailer in the same shopping center in Clarendon today, you will want to call first before heading over. The popular retail center, located at 2700 Clarendon Blvd. adjacent to the Market Common apartments, has been struggling with electricity issues for the past two days, and stores along one half of the mall have been closed since Monday due to the outage. Workers installed a large truck-based generator this afternoon to restore power temporarily, and an employee at Pottery Barn told DCist at 4:30 p.m. that they hope to open in the next hour, once the rest of the team reports to work. The Apple Store was closed when this editor went by around noon in the hopes of getting her laptop repaired. Employees at the Pentagon City Apple Store noted that they have been twice as busy as normal today due to overflow customers coming in from Clarendon.

DDOT is reporting a power outage that is affecting traffic signal operations in Northeast D.C. The following traffic signals are not working as of 10:35 a.m.:

Fire crews responded to a gas main break at 16th Street and Park Road NW at about 9 a.m. this morning. Traffic was backed up on southbound 16th Street while firetrucks blocked one lane, and firefighters shut down a section of the sidewalk on the west side of the street. A strong smell of gas wafted across the intersection, and one firefighter instructed a pedestrian to put out his cigarette when he approached. A 3 inch gas main was struck by a worker operating a backhoe; construction on Park Road between 16th and 17th has been ongoing for weeks.

It's that time of year again, D.C.! The magical season of chlorine-scented and flavored tap water is back. The Washington Aqueduct announced yesterday that it will temporarily resume the use of chlorine next week to treat our drinking water, and warned that the special odor and taste we've all come to know and love every spring will be back for at least a month. The water is still safe to drink, the Aqueduct was sure to point out. In addition to the District, Arlington County, Falls Church and parts of Fairfax County will also experience the funky tap water of April (exact dates announced by the Aqueduct: April 6-May 4). Yum. Drink up!

Some small solace for those of you who experienced skyrocketing Pepco bills earlier this year. WTOP reports that thanks to a tarriff change approved by D.C.'s Public Service Commission, Pepco customers who live in the District can expect a credit on their April bill. It's nothing major: homes that are individually metered will get $16.84, and there will be some sort of similar credit given to apartment dwellers and non-residential customers as well. Certainly not anything life changing, but in this economy, who couldn't use an extra $16?

AlertDC lets us know that Pepco is on site at 18th Street and Columbia Rd. NW in response to a smoking manhole cover. DDOT spokesperson John Lisle follows up that Columbia Rd. NW has been closed between 18th Street and Kalorama Road as a result of the manhole emergency and smoke, and traffic is being diverted. Pepco, FEMS and the MPD are all on the scene. DDOT says it has also deployed Road Operations Patrol units and Traffic Control Officers to assist with traffic in the area.

You knew something like this was only a matter of time. The Post reports that a D.C. man who is the father of developmentally disabled twin boys has filed a class action lawsuit against D.C. WASA.

DCist's lively comment thread about the news of a sudden rise in D.C. electricity bills combined with second-day stories about how many more D.C. residents are being threatened with their power getting shut off have us on high alert for all things Pepco. Well earlier today the utility posted a web video (and written transcript) titled "Pepco Cares About Your Energy Usage", and introduced a Twitter feed where you can contact Pepco's "social media lead" directly.

A water main break near 16th Street and Park Road NW this morning has left some customers in the area without water. Workers responding to the scene also report that water spilling out onto the street has caused icy conditions around the break, thanks to freezing temperatures. A salt truck has been requested. Work crews estimate the break will be repaired by 5 p.m.

District residents are understandably disturbed by yesterday's lead revelations in the Washington Post, and the D.C. Council has gone ahead and scheduled a hearing to address environmental and health concerns. The Committee on Government Operations and the Environment hearing is set for February 10 at 11 a.m. at the John A. Wilson Building, Room 412. Committee chair Mary Cheh (D-Ward 3) will hold the hearing jointly with Jim Graham (D-Ward 1), who oversees WASA.

So the big, big, big story on the front page of this morning's Washington Post was by Carol Leonnig, who obtained a copy of a forthcoming study that shows that hundreds of District children had dangerously high levels of lead in their blood during the WASA lead crisis earlier this decade.

The study, based on a detailed analysis of thousands of children’s blood tests from 2000 to 2003, contradicts the public assurances issued by federal and D.C. health officials starting in 2004. At the time, although officials acknowledged that the amount of lead in city water were at record-breaking levels, they said repeatedly that they found no measurable impact on the general public’s health.

Looks like a lot of the homes currently without gas in Shaw are in for a long night. Alert DC just sent out an update that Emergency Management officials have set up a "warming center" at Kennedy Recreation Center (1407 7th Street NW), and reminding residents that if they are using space heaters, they should leave at least three feet of space around the heater to reduce the risk of a fire. Fire officials are also asking that if you smell an odor of natural gas, please call 9-1-1.

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WASA representative Pamela Mooring wrote us to let us know more about the incident (or, as it turns out, incidents) we reported earlier: "This morning we had a 48” valve near Soldiers Home (NW) that needed to be adjusted. That caused low water pressure in a wide area of the District. We opened the valve, and water pressure was restored. The 6” water main work at 12th and O Streets, NW, is unrelated. There was a leak there reported Saturday, but the area was not taken out of service until crews could perform the work today. The estimate for completion of the work and restoration of water is around 5 pm this evening." Those of you still without water should see that resolved in the next couple hours.

This DCist lives in an apartment building that not only has a PA system but keeps that PA system tuned to the satellite radio 80s station. We begin our day with Depeche Mode no matter what. When you think about it, you’re forced to listen to music in many places, whether it’s the staple jazz bleating from Starbucks speakers or the minstrels of the metrorail stations. But it’s one thing when “Banana” provides you a...

CoolGov points us to a clearinghouse for federal news releases through the Federal Citizen Information Center. Wow, there's a lot we didn't care to know about.