A natural gas company is working to restore service to thousands of customers in Colorado after vandalism that damaged pipes and shut off the gas, leaving residents without heat and hot water.
According to a statement Monday of Vance Crocker, the vice president of Black Hills Energy, crews worked to bring more than 3,500 gas meters in Aspen back online, a process that “requires several steps.”
“We must first ensure that all gas meters are turned off, then flush the system so that it is ready for the reintroduction of the natural gas supply,” added Crocker. “Finally, our technicians will go door to door and re-light each customer’s gas appliances.”
According to KUSA, affiliated with NBC in Denver, Crocker said at a community meeting Monday that the process of restoring gas lines was expected to begin Tuesday, with 150 technicians working on the problem and 4,000 stoves distributed during repairs.
The Aspen Times reported that gas pipes had been found damaged throughout the city, bearing the name of environmental organization Earth First! written on one pipe at one of three Black Hills Energy sites destroyed.
It was not clear on Monday whether the members of the organization were directly involved in the damage, according to the Aspen newspaper.
“They should be somewhat familiar with the system” to perform the tamper, Bill Linn, Aspen’s assistant police chief, said Monday.
‘They messed with power lines. They turned off the gas lines, ”he continued.
Linn added that the police have received no communication from Earth First! in response to the damage.
At Monday’s community meeting Aspen police chief Richard Pryor said a multi-jurisdictional investigation was being conducted to determine who was behind the vandalism and how to carry it out.
Linn said Monday that the FBI was assisting local detectives in the investigation, as well as law enforcement officers, according to the Times.
Pitkin County Commissioner Patti Clapper, who was at her home in the Smuggler Mountain area without heat Monday, called the vandalism “an act of terrorism.”
“It’s trying to destroy a mountain community at the height of the holiday season,” Clapper continued, reported the Times. This was not a national gas outage. This was a purposeful act. “
Pitkin County Sheriff Joe DiSalvo said Monday he was hesitant to label the incident as an assault.
“I know that word has been thrown around many times,” he said. “It’s not a word I would use,” instead I call the vandalism “a deliberate act” to disrupt the gas service to Aspen.