Community Watchdog: National Grid responds about gas odor

For the last three years, there has been a strong gas odor in front of our property. I've had National Grid out at least three times and each time they say there is a gas leak, but that it's too far from the house to be cause for alarm or warrant a repair. Still, the thought of a leak makes me uneasy. I could use some help in getting this fixed. - Mark Dazzo, Bayport

Within two days of our call, National Grid sent workers to repair the gas leak near Dazzo's home.

National Grid spokeswoman Elizabeth Margulies said that distance from a house or building plays no role in whether a leak is repaired, as Dazzo had believed. To fix the leak, workers placed a plastic pipe inside the existing steel service pipe.

"The old service was leaking in the road area and at the connection to the gas main in the street," Margulies said.

All gas leaks are measured on a scale of 1 to 3, Margulies said, with Type 1 being most hazardous and Type 3 being "not immediately hazardous at the time of detection" and expected to remain that way.

Since Dazzo's leak was a Type 3, it was slated to be re-evaluated annually. Repairs were done as a result of our call about Dazzo's concerns.

To report a gas emergency, Long Islanders can call National Grid at 800-490-0045. - Michael R. Ebert

Who rules intersection in Mineola

On Mineola Boulevard, there are two southbound lanes heading toward the Jericho Turnpike intersection in Mineola. The right lane is for right turns only. The left lane is for through traffic and vehicles making left turns. In the morning, there is usually a back up in the left lane and few-to-no cars in the right lane. Sometimes the cars in the left lane going straight have to wait for a second light because we're stuck behind drivers trying to make a left onto Jericho. Why can't cars go straight from the right lane, also, especially since there's a "No Turn on Red" at that intersection? - Rita Stein, Roslyn Heights

What seems like common sense to drivers who travel the same roads every day, doesn't always make safety sense to traffic engineers who analyze traffic flow and patterns, Mrs. Stein. (Sorry, that's a no to your request.)

Mineola Boulevard is a county road, but because the intersection you inquired about is within 100 feet of Jericho, a state road, the New York State Department of Transportation has jurisdiction over the markings and traffic signal there.

DOT spokeswoman Eileen Peters said in an e-mail, "Based on traffic movement counts and field observations, the NYSDOT investigation revealed that the number of vehicles turning right was significantly higher than the vehicles turning left."

That conflicts with Stein's observations, but she's a lawyer, not a traffic engineer.

"Changing the current exclusive right turn lane into a combination right / through lane would reduce the capacity of vehicles able to complete the right turn during the traffic signal cycle which would increase congestion for the entire intersection and cause additional area delays," Peters wrote. The "No Right Turn on Red" sign was installed because, "because the clear sight distance is restricted for motorists turning right," she wrote.

Limbs trimmed despite utilities' squabble

Last week, we wrote about a tree limb that was leaning on a Cablevision line in West Hempstead. Motilal Sadusingh was concerned that if the limb broke in a storm it would wreak havoc with the utility lines. He had tried for years to get LIPA, Cablevision or Verizon to remove what he believed was a hazard, but got no response.

After we called LIPA, a crew was sent to check the complaint. They trimmed a few branches near the utility's lines, but left the leaning limb because it was on Cablevision's wires. LIPA spokesman Mark Gross said LIPA only trims trees near its lines.

We then called Cablevision (which owns Newsday), and spokesman Jim Maiella said the cable company is a tenant on the poles, and the pole owner, whether it's LIPA or Verizon, is responsible for periodic trimming because Cablevision doesn't trim trees.

This time, they made an exception. "As a tenant on the utility poles, we do not typically trim trees," Maiella wrote in an e-mail. "But given the concerns of the homeowner in this case, we took action to trim back the branch that was coming into contact with the wires."

To clarify who's responsible for tree trimming, LIPA's senior vice president for operations Michael D. Harvey sent a letter to Cablevision's Cable & Communications president John Bickham last week. In part, it stated " . . . it's important to understand that LIPA does not . . . have any obligation to trim trees for any Third Party Attachers / Tenants to its pole." The letter also cited the agreement between Cablevision and the utility, made years ago when it was called LILCO, regarding tree trimming.

Maiella said the issue rarely comes up because tree trimming by LIPA and Verizon generally takes care of limbs affecting Cablevision lines, which are between the two utilities on the poles.