Gas lines hit bumps with East Hills residents

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Gas lines hit bumps with East Hills residents

The Village of East Hills and National Grid’s collaborative gas conversion program has triggered some complaints among residents about installation which caused property damage around residents’ curb lines.

Deputy Mayor Manny Zuckerman said 95 percent of the installation was done without ripping up roadways since most of the gas lines had gone under the grass, part of the initial agreement with National Grid.

Residents complained about damaged sprinkler heads and shifted Belgian blocks, Zuckerman said, which will be repaired by sub-contractor Asplundh Construction at no cost to the residents.

“It’s a question of labor, it’s not a huge amount of damage, but it’s definitely a concern for us to be taken care of on a timely basis,” he said.

He said access to natural gas for residents received a positive response overall, particularly from those who have already converted, due to reliability.

“Once it’s complete and all these issues have been resolved, hopefully in a short period of time, we will be fortunate to have gas in place of oil,” Zuckerman said.

The project, he said includes environmental benefits, as each individual conversion is the equivalent of taking 15 cars off the road, in addition to removing oil trucks that typically go in and out of East Hills.

Zuckerman added that the work is expected to be completed ahead of schedule, shortly after Memorial Day weekend.

Wendy Ladd, a spokesperson with National Grid said that a part of the village already had access to natural gas before the project began, and once completed, the village will have over 80,000 feet, or 15 miles, of new gas main.

She said almost all of the new gas main was installed through horizontal directional drilling in the grass strip between the homes and the curb line. 

“This greatly reduced the amount of roadway openings, which minimized paving costs and increased customer satisfaction,” Ladd said.

While similar municipal projects have been successfully completed in upstate New York, this project is the first of its kind out on Long Island, she added.

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