Members of the New Orleans City Council today will hear from both Entergy and the Sewerage and Water Board about last week's outages that led to a near-citywide boil advisory.
The power outage that caused pumping to stop at the main treatment plant on South Claiborne Ave. was just part of the equation -- a Sewerage & Water board worker was severely injured when trying to restore operation.
Councilmember Joe Giarrusso said even in a situation like that, there needs to be someone on the scene who can get the job done.
"Imagine somebody running a nuclear reactor and having a heart attack, you can't just say 'well, we're forgetting everything that's happening with a nuclear device.' You've got to be able to attend to both," said Giarrusso. "There has got to be a strong balance about making sure every protocol is followed."
Giarrusso said the Sewerage & Water Board's backups could have spared most of the city a boil advisory, but the worker's injury delayed necessary action.
"And in this instance, look, the water towers apparently worked. They gave the 40 minutes, that happened," he said. "But because they were tending to this gentleman and taking care of other things, everything lost pressure and they weren't able to just push buttons and make it go."
The council's utility committee will also hear from Entergy officials on the power outage that led up to the water issue... reportedly caused by a Mylar balloon shorting out power lines.
Meetings are set to begin at 10 a.m.
