WMECo: No long-term blackouts expected for Ardsley Road residents

Date: 2/14/2011

Feb. 14, 2011

By Chris Maza

Reminder Assistant Editor

LONGMEADOW — The prospects for residents on Ardsley Road that may be affected by necessary work after a transformer issue are not as grave as some might think, according to Western Massachusetts Electric Company (WMECo).

Lacey Ryan, a spokeswoman for WMECo, said that while there was a problem with an underground transformer in that area that may have leaked some 30 gallons of oil contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) into the soil, repairs and remediation of the soil planned for sometime in April will not result in long-term power outages, as was suggested by Selectmen Mark Gold.

"There will not be a several-day-long outage. It may take that long to do the work, but the power will not be off that long," Ryan said. "There may be a brief power outage, but if there was any planned outage, our customers would be notified."

Ryan also said, at this point, there is no evidence suggesting how much contamination there is or how far into the soil it is. Department of Public Works Director Mike Wrabel had informed Gold in an e-mail that WMECo representatives told him they had done borings that suggest the PCB contaminants have leaked up to 10 feet deep in the soil.

According to Ryan, no borings can be done until the ground thaws.

"[WMECo] did what is called a wipe test, but there were no borings," Ryan said. "The wipe test gave early indications of contamination."

There is a meeting scheduled for Feb. 16 at 5:30 p.m. in the Greenwood Center, at which residents may talk to representatives of WMECo regarding the anticipated remediation process.