AP Features, August 15th, 2007
The family of a tow truck driver badly burned in a Manhattan steam pipe explosion called Wednesday for an independent monitor to oversee the private utility company's investigation into what caused the blast.
Consolidated Edison cannot be trusted to head a probe into the July 18 explosion near Grand Central Terminal, said Ken Thompson, a lawyer for the mother of Gregory McCullough, who suffered third-degree burns to more than 80 percent of his body.
Con Ed has hired an engineering firm to study what caused the explosion, and has said it is working with city officials and insurance companies. The state is conducting its own probe.
But Thompson said any firm hired by Con Ed was suspect, and the state Public Service Commission, because it oversees the utility, could be equally at fault. "We want a neutral, third party uninvolved in this case," he said.
Con Ed's investigation ground to a halt last week after a judge granted a temporary restraining order to keep the utility from dismantling and testing equipment at the site. Thompson had sought the order, claiming that Con Ed might be destroying evidence.
Henry Miller, a lawyer for Con Ed, said the utility has been open about the investigation and is simply trying to find answers. "We're heartsick over Gregory McCullough," he said. "We want to get to the bottom of it just like everyone else."
PSC spokeswoman Anne Dalton declined to comment on the possibility of a third-party probe.
"Our comprehensive and thorough investigation is proceeding," though it has been slowed by the restraining order, she said.
About 40 people were injured in the blast, and one died of a heart attack while fleeing. The explosion left a gaping crater in a midtown Manhattan street, bringing traffic and commerce to a near-standstill.
McCullough, 21, is still in a hospital burn unit, where he has been placed in a medically induced coma to control his pain and has undergone surgery to remove dead skin. His mother, Tanya McCullough-Stewart, said he is sometimes conscious, and doctors told her they may have to amputate his leg and arm.
His passenger, Judith Bailey, 30, suffered burns to more than 30 percent of her body. She was released from a hospital last week.
Both McCullough and Bailey have sued Con Ed. In addition, at least three other lawsuits have been filed.
In 1989, a Con Ed steam pipe exploded near Manhattan's Gramercy Park, killing three people and showering asbestos over the neighborhood. Con Ed did not immediately disclose the contamination.
The utility spent more than $50 million (euro37 million) to settle with the government and private parties and operated for a while with a court-appointed monitor.
