NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) – Crews were testing for asbestos and establishing a potential cleanup zone after a steam line ruptured in Midtown East on Wednesday morning, causing a shelter-in-place for some residents as well as street closures and gridlock.
Con Edison crews were working on some piping at East 52nd Street and Second Avenue when the call came in around 5:30 a.m. that steam vapor, potentially contaminated with asbestos, was shooting out of the street.
As the response was underway, the "vapor condition" quickly intensified, said Hugh Grant, ConEd's vice president of steam operations.
"We had a small hole in the ground, and we had steam vapor being released in a more aggressive manner," Grant said.
The area was secured, and the steam main was shut down by 6:45 a.m. Residents were told to shelter in place, but no one was evacuated, officials said, clarifying earlier reports. They said no one was in immediate danger.
The main ongoing concern is the possible release of asbestos, according to officials. The presence of asbestos has not been confirmed.
"We do have a potential asbestos release, hence we are working closely with all the necessary agencies to ensure the safety of the public and our employees—that is our North Star and that is the most important thing for us," Grant said.
The NYPD is doing escorts in and out of the area. "For people that have concerns, we have N95 masks if you want to wear them in the area," Grant said.
Police officers and others in the area were seen wearing masks at 9:30 a.m.
FDNY Chief Nick Corrado said there was "no report of injuries or people contaminated."
An interagency team—made up of ConEd, the FDNY, NYPD, the Department of Environmental Protection and NYC Emergency Management—is working together to do air monitoring and establish a potential cleanup zone for the area, according to officials.
Residents near East 52nd Street and Second Avenue were advised to close all windows, NYCEM said.
"The big thing right now that we're working on is that they're doing some air quality testing," NYCEM Commissioner Zachary Iscol told reporters.
"We'll have those results back later this morning," Iscol added. "But the big thing is we just want to let residents and the area know that A, we're sort of doing everything we can to take care of this and expedite things as we work through the cleanup operations. But B, people should be staying clear of this area."
Traffic was gridlocked in Midtown East throughout the morning due to street closures on East 51st, 52nd and 53rd streets, between First and Lexington avenues. There was also slowdown for inbound vehicles at the Queensboro Bridge.