During last week’s town council meeting, Public Works Director Steve Calla and Town Manager Tony Marino gave a detailed presentation on the town’s preparation and response to the blizzard that hit the region at the end of February.
Much of the focus was on the seven water main breaks in the town, and the steps that were taken to address those breaks and restore service to the town.
Several councilors and residents praised the actions taken by the public works department to address the many issues caused by the storms. However, there were concerns raised that the town has not stepped up to address the long-term issues that have affected the parts of town hit by the water main breaks and flooded basements for years.
Calla said the pre-storm preparation that weekend included putting a parking ban into effect on Sunday evening, checking equipment and confirming when DPW personnel would arrive for storm operations, and conducting a number of calls with the DCR about the length of time it planned on closing the storm gate on Winthrop Parkway.
The public works director then detailed the early morning hours on Monday, when the first power outages and water main break were reported.
During the early morning hours, Calla said staff was working hard to keep roadways passable while dealing with downed trees, downed power lines, and downed telephone poles. By 6:30 a.m., Calla said he got the first call of a water main break on Veterans Road on a 12-inch feeder and he and the operations manager headed to the site to assess and start isolating the break, which was made difficult due to the valves being buried under the snow and ice.
Within five to 10 minutes, there were additional calls for additional water main breaks, bringing the total up to seven.
After digging into the snowbound PRV (pressure reducing valve) station, Calla said they saw a high system flow and erratic pressure from the seven active water main breaks, as well as a dangerously high water level in the Faunbar water tower, which he said was quickly nearing overflow conditions.
The PRVs were manually throttled to lower the system pressure and slow the rising tank level, and Calla said he communicated with MWRA to request a system back-feed, as he said it was apparent that the PRV station control was compromised and that a full closure is necessary to prevent additional pressure spikes and tank overflow.
While the MWRA coordinated a valve team to initiate the back-feed, DPW management returned to the field to continue isolating the seven breaks and to start clearing snow and ice from the valve chamber at Tafts Ave. that MWRA needed to access in order to provide a system back-feed from Deer Island.
“It’s an unprotected area, the snow rates, the wind, we were soaking wet, it was like having two-by-fours strapped to your legs with duct tape, you couldn’t even bend,” said Calla. “We fought through it, we got the valves uncovered and prepped for MWRA and were still waiting on an ETA for the valve team to arrive.”
The town PRV was shut-down at 8:20 a.m., killing all water pressure throughout town, while the main break isolation efforts were temporarily interrupted while DPW assisted MWRA with the initiation of the back-feed.
The MWRA supply from Deer Island started at 9:15 a.m., restoring controlled water pressure throughout town. This new supply re-fed the active breaks which Calla said they were still working to isolate. He said the isolation effort was incredibly challenging and dangerous due to the weather conditions and physical hazards of downed power lines, falling trees, ice, and sink holes.
The final main break was isolated at noon, according to Calla. The DPW then coordinated an MWRA pump team to pump the flooded roadway at Girdlestone with an initial ETA of 1:30 p.m. The fire department began basement pump-outs in the area of Girdlestone around 12:30 p.m.
While this was happening, Calla said he was able to return his office manager and water tech to their plow routes, which he said had somewhat fallen behind because of the work on the water main breaks.
“We did have coverage on these routes during their absence,” said Calla. “I had to get back on my route, I also work a loop during the storm. While I am working my route, I am making phone calls to contractors and supply houses – this is still in the middle of a storm and there are still weather conditions that are terrible – so trying to get people to commit to responding is a little difficult, but we did get a couple of contractors to agree to dig out their equipment and come down.”
Calla said the department does have parts on hand, but not enough to repair seven different size mains at the same time. He added that he was able to send a person whose truck was stuck in a sinkhole on Marshall Street to pick up the supplies.
The snowfall finally began to taper off around 6 p.m., allowing crews to start widening the roadways that were being maintained throughout the storm. The snowplow and salting operation didn’t end until 1:30 a.m. on Tuesday morning, meaning it was a storm duration of 29 hours for the DPW personnel, according to Calla.
The MWRA arrived shortly after 3 p.m. due to the weather conditions and Girdlestone was fully pumped down by 4 p.m., Calla stated. He added that five of the seven main breaks were able to be isolated in a manner that didn’t interrupt water service, although residents on Marshall Street and Beal Street were affected.
“There was a lot going on with this storm, but we had all water restored to all affected people by 9:30 p.m.,” said Calla. “That’s a pretty big feat for our department, and obviously with the help of contractors and MWRA. National Grid, an organization with almost endless resources, didn’t restore power to the town to everybody until over a day later.”
Calla and Marino highlighted some of the next steps the town needs to take in the wake of the storm.
“There were several issues that contributed to the events,” said Calla. “The manual presets on the PRVs were improperly set to a range that was above the operating parameters of the system. What this means is that when the power was lost at the PRV and they system changed to from PLC (programmable logic controller) control to manual operation, the system pressure was not controlled in the proper range.”
Calla said that was an oversight by the engineer and their vendors.
“The town paid for construction administration on this project and we had a team of specialists; we even had MWRA’s eyes on it,” said Calla. “Why the manual PRV set points did not correspond to the operating parameters of the PLC is clearly an oversight.”
The town has notified both the engineer and the contractors of the issue and the town will be pursuing their insurance, said Calla.
The second major issue, which didn’t protect the town against the pressure spike, was the failure of the pressure release valve to open, Calla said. He said the town is looking at the valve manufacturer, and noted that the valve was tested during commissioning of the station.
“We are trying to understand why it didn’t open at the proper pressure, even though it was told to us that it was properly set,” said Calla.
Calla said that anyone looking to make an insurance claim due to the water main breaks has the proper information for the town’s insurance carrier. He added that the town will also make sure that its insurance carrier will file a claim against the PRV vendor and the engineering group.
Marino said there have been concerns from residents about where the town is with plans for the stormwater system in the area affected by the water main breaks.
“The council has allocated in the past all the necessary funds we need to do the rest of the engineering work and design work for Tilestone, Girdlestone, and Pico stormwater systems,” said Marino. “We still need the additional funding to do the seawall extension and permitting over at the Pico area, and that costs approximately $204,000 and we still need to find a funding source for that. The Tilestone, Girdlestone, and Pico stormwater systems are just about done, what we are waiting for now … is to finalize the easement plan for the Pleasant Park Yacht Club because we have to cross over there with a pipe.”
Once that easement is finalized, the town will be ready to have documents to put out to bid.
“At that point, we’ll need to identify a funding source,” said Marino, with a total cost that could be between $4-$6 million.
“This project is designed and ready to go, we have to figure out how to pay for it so we can get the upgrades done,” said Marino.
Even with a proper system in place, given the amount of water and snow from the storm, it still may have resulted in some flooded basements and home damage, Marino said.
“Regardless, this work needs to be done, we have been working on it since I got here back in 2022 when it was brought to our attention,” said Marino. “We have been working on it and we want to make sure we finish the project.”
Marino said work will continue on looking for funding sources to replace the most vulnerable water mains in the town.
“Obviously, we regret the flooding on Tilestone, Girdleston and the damage that caused stress for the families there – flooding basements and the loss of heating systems,” said Marino. “But rest assured, we did everything we could to minimize those impacts and that was our goal throughout the entire storm once we learned the problems we were having.”
Girdlestone Road resident Chris Yarrow said the issues in his neighborhood have gone on for decades, not years.
Yarrow said that two years ago, a home health aide said she couldn’t get to Yarrow’s mother for a visit because of the flooding issues.
“When you get a call from a home health aide saying I cannot visit your mother today, I cannot get down the street – a woman dying of cancer in her home … does anyone here find that acceptable in any way?” Yarrow asked. “I just remodeled that house two years ago, put a ton of money into it because I love the town, my daughter’s going to live there, wonderful – wiped out, wiped out. And this could have been fixed years ago but we are dilly-dallying with money; and I know it takes time, but how much time?”
Precinct 2 resident Marci Hamilton said her home and property were damaged due to the most recent drainage issues caused by the water main break on Marshall Street.
“For three-plus years now, I have worked tirelessly with this government to ensure that this flooding would not happen again,” Hamilton said. “It took years to investigate and relay the issue to you, let alone to identify the solution and further develop a workaround to stabilize the problem in the absence of funding of a pump to be put on Girdleston Road that served the purpose.”
Hamilton said the pump on Girdleston Road was not activated on that Sunday night into Monday morning of the blizzard.
“Water came running toward me and I was on the phone with people that I know saying activate the plan, activate the plan,” said Hamilton. “It was too late, we were in chaos, we were wringing our hands, a few men were doing the work of maybe 12 to 20 men, and that’s unacceptable. My basement, shed, garage, and all my property were again all destroyed.
“This was preventable by the town, and after all my efforts, I feel betrayed by this neglect and lack of proactivity,” Hamilton continued. “This is not new news, this is a drainage issue that you have known about, that I have known about since 2017 when the DPW went down into the hole and saw the duct flap and the cracked pipe.”