A natural gas company is working to restore service to thousands of customers in Colorado after an act of vandalism damaged the lines and forced the gas to shut down, leaving residents without heat and hot water.
Seconds a statement On Monday, Black Hills Energy’s vice president of operations, Vance Crocker, said crews were working to put more than 3,500 gas meters back in line in Aspen, a process that “requires several steps.”
“We first need to make sure all the gas meters are off, and then purge the system so that it is ready for the reintroduction of the natural gas supply,” Crocker added. “Eventually, our technicians will go door-to-door and re-ignite each customer’s gas appliances.”
Seconds KUSA, NBC’s Denver subsidiary, Crocker said during a community meeting Monday that the gas line restoration process was expected to begin on Tuesday, with 150 technicians deployed to work on the problem and 4,000 heaters distributed during the repairs.
The Aspen Times reported that gas lines across the city were damaged, with the name of the environmental organization Earth First! written on a pipe in one of three vandalized Black Hills Energy sites.
It was unclear as of Monday whether members of the organization were directly involved in the damage, according to the Aspen newspaper.
“They should have had some familiarity with the system” to carry out the sabotage, Bill Linn, deputy chief of Aspen police, said Monday.
“They manipulated the flow lines. They turned off the gas lines “, he continued.
Linn added that police have not received any communications from Earth First. in response to damages.
At Monday’s community meeting, Aspen police chief Richard Pryor said a multi-jurisdictional investigation was underway to determine who was behind the vandalism and how they were able to carry it out.
Linn said Monday that the FBI was assisting local detectives in the investigation, as well as state police officials, according to the Times.
Pitkin County Commissioner Patti Clapper, who was without heat Monday at her home in the Smuggler Mountain area, called the vandalism an “act of terrorism.”
“Attempts are being made to destroy a mountain community in the midst of the holiday season,” Clapper continued, the Times reported. “This was not a national gas problem. It was a deliberate act. “
Pitkin County Sheriff Joe DiSalvo said Monday he was hesitant to describe the incident as an attack.
“I know that word has been thrown around a lot,” he said. “It’s not a word I would use,” he instead called vandalism an “intentional act” to disrupt gas service in Aspen.