Several months ago, the gas company had received a complaint that there was a smell of gas and that someone had illegally tapped into the same building’s gas line and apparently it was leaking.
The gas company came out and fixed it. Authorities think someone again did an end-run around the pipes and tapped into them again, this time with catastrophic results. Not only were two people killed and three buildings reduced to rubble, almost two dozen people were injured and many more were left homeless.
While Consolidated Edison, the gas utility that served the buildings involved in the blast says that stealing gas is “fairly uncommon,” but others disagree.
“It’s a regular, regular problem,” says Mark McDonald of the advisory group NatGas Consulting. “Just as you can imagine theft in a Wal-Mart, no different, but much more dangerous,” he told US News & World Report.
McDonald says he would find an illegal hookup about once a week during his 25 years as a gas worker before he became a consultant.
"I've seen everything from complete morons to really detailed theft," he said.
The investigation into the most recent explosion in New York City continues this week.
