Manhole explodes in East Boston

By Empower East Boston

We’ve been hearing about manhole covers exploding every few weeks this year, and now, it’s happened again, right here in East Boston!

On June 27, a manhole cover on the corner of Westbrook and Bennington streets started smoking before exploding several feet into the air and landing back over the manhole, a witness said.

Boston Fire and Boston Police arrived to direct traffic and to check neighboring homes for any gas leaks. None were found. Luckily, no one was hurt.

Eversource did eventually also check the vicinity, a witness said.

This comes less than three months after another manhole cover exploded near Government Center, gouging the sidewalk and missing pedestrians out of sheer luck. This shocking video is truly a must-see.

Eversource is ignoring the real problem in East Boston – the aging distribution system – and is instead going for a cash grab with a transmission project that will not directly address these sorts of problems.

Two East Boston residents were already hospitalized because of issues with Eversource’s aging electrical infrastructure earlier this year, and we are lucky that nobody was hurt the night of Tuesday, July 27. If they cannot maintain distribution lines here in Eastie, why should we trust them with high voltages lines, which are far more hazardous?

When will Eversource abandon their profit-grabbing plan to build a substation and make the distribution upgrades East Boston really needs?