DENVER – Black Hills Energy teams continued to work to shut down gas service to about 3,500 customers Monday afternoon after three of their sites were vandalized over the weekend and Pitkin County officials said those customers of the Aspen area would remain without heat and hot water until at least Tuesday morning.
One of the vandal sites Saturday night was in the town of Aspen and the other two were in Pitkin County. County and city officials said Monday afternoon there was an ongoing criminal investigation.
The vandalism was noticed on Saturday evening after customers reported the loss of gas pressure and as the investigation continued on Sunday, Black Hills Energy found more problems with the gas lines and began shutting down the meters. for affected customers.
Vance Crocker, vice president of operations for Black Hills Energy, said Monday afternoon that crews expected the system to be shut down early Monday evening and that crews would go to every customer location to make sure the lines are purged and can be reactivated safely and securely before 11pm on Monday. Black Hills Energy plans to have about 100 employees statewide working to restore the shutdown.
“First we have 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. Finally, our technicians will go door to door and light up the appliances. gas from each customer, ”Crocker said in a statement.
Black Hills Energy crews will begin turning on pilot lights for people and other gas appliances starting at 5 a.m. Tuesday, county officials said. They ask that no one try to turn the appliances back on on their own. People can call 888-890-5554 with non-emergency questions.
The FBI has been called in to help with the investigation, as it involves a critical utility infrastructure, and the investigation is being led by Aspen police, according to APD Bill Linn.
Linn said the vandalism happened all the same Saturday and involved vandalism of the closed gas lines and that two of the three sites were open and not inside the buildings.
One of the sites had a group’s name written on it, Earth First, but on Monday officials declined to detail whether the name had anything to do with vandalism. He said he did not believe vandalism would qualify as terrorism.
“The word‘ attack ’has been thrown around a lot,” Pitkin County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Joe DiSalvo said. “It’s not the word I would use. It was a deliberate attack to disrupt gas service in and around Aspen.
Physical tests, including footprints, have been recovered from all three scenes, officials said.
The crimes investigated include endangering a public utility, theft and criminal manipulation, Linn said.
A line of suggestions for research has been established at 970-924-0614. The county jail runs on electric heat, DiSalvo said.
Linn said a limited number of space heaters supplied by Black Hills Energy are available to pick them up at Aspen Police Headquarters, located at 540 East Main Street. They were out at 6:20 p.m., but said there were another 3,600 en route.
The city is asking people to park on the north side of the main street or in parking spaces in front of the Concept 600 building. For people who open and open passenger windows, the heaters will drop inside. to distribute them without contact.
People who are unable to come to the police station can request this by calling 970-920-5310 and an officer will take them to them as soon as possible.
Pitkin County and the city of Aspen are holding a community meeting Monday at 6 p.m. in Zoom, which you can attend by clicking here.
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