BCWA chief: Earthquake may have caused pipeline leak

Inspection coming Thursday; total slip-lining cost estimated at $3 million

By Ted Hayes
Posted 5/22/19

Bristol County Water Authority officials are going on a theory that an earthquake may have caused the break in the authority's Cross Bay Pipeline, which has been leaking approximately 288,000 gallons …

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BCWA chief: Earthquake may have caused pipeline leak

Inspection coming Thursday; total slip-lining cost estimated at $3 million

Posted

Bristol County Water Authority officials who plan on building a new $35 million redundant water pipeline to Pawtucket are going on a theory that an earthquake may have caused the break in the authority's Cross Bay Pipeline, which has been leaking approximately 288,000 gallons of water per day since early April.

BCWA Executive Director Pam Marchand said during a meetiing Monday that the same day officials first noticed the leak, a small earthquake centered under Block Island was recorded, measuring just over 3 on the Richter Scale. Though it was small, Ms. Marchand said officials now believe that effects of the quake might have sprung a weld somewhere along the pipeline's 4,800-foot path 160 feet under the Providence River.

Though the pipeline has been shut down for about three weeks, it is still pressurized and therefore continues to leak. Given that, officials are now planning to put it back online as they work to pinpoint the leak and attempt a fix.

Ms. Marchand said specialized acoustical and visual monitoring equipment will be inserted into the pipeline Thursday in hopes of finding the leak's exact location. Once it is pinpointed, officials will begin planning how to fix it. Right now, she said, the most likely option is to "slip-line" the pipe's entire length with a smaller diameter pipe, effectively sealing the pipeline's entire length and cutting off the leak. One other option includes a robotic repair of the break, but she said it remains to be seen if that will be possible.

If officials opt to slipline the entire pipeline, the most likely course of action, the entire cost would be approximately $3 million.

While the BCWA's board of directors has set aside $500,000 and more recently an other $300,000 to cover digging and repair costs, Ms. Marchand said officials are talking to their insurer in hopes of recouping some of those costs and possibly, the cost of repairs.

"We actually have earthquake insurance," she said, and officials are exploring whether they can file a claim.

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