Margins of Error
I understand that the Sewerage and Water Board must institute a raise in rates to help finance the comprehensive repairs to infrastructure since Katrina and I have acquired an affable ability to ignore a number of ‘bubbling ponds’ that have been a part of the New Orleans landscape for years. However, today, on a cruise to the Baumer Foods demolition site, we found a 4-ft geiser spewing like Niagra Falls on the property. It looked kinda refreshing on a hot summer day . . . a resident, however, informed us that this major leak has been raging for 4-DAYS. The street was flooded. My thoughts were; a) this is costing us money and b) this is sucking water pressure from the system which might be needed to fight fires. So I grabbed my handy hot sheet of municipal phone numbers and Karen and I got on the horn to see what the situation was at the other end of the S&WB regarding this waterfall.
A crew appeared on the scene within five minutes and began to walk the area to shut it off with the help of the site manager from Gibbs Construction. This doesn’t mean the flow has been stopped, they were still working when we left but we suggested that if all else failed, they could plug the pipe with all of these FEMA Project Worksheets.
The scary thing is, the S&WB had told the site manager they had shut off the water prior to demolition. As you will see in the photos, the gas line was marked as ‘live’ . . .
Update: Geiser Stopped
T-P Article: Redevelopment of Baumer Foods Site
Related posts:
Did you happen to find any jars of grape jelly?
No, that would have cheered me up, for sure . . . only steak sauce, mustard and hot sauce.
Laureen, this is just another example of your incredible selflessness and dedication to this city. Thank you for caring so much! You are a blessing to all of us!
Well, this mere phone call might not be as selfless as some of the larger smackdowns me and some other tireless citizens are working day and night to resolve where my profile runs on the low side. But I must, say, Karen is a big help in swinging the proverbial bat against these problems, big and small, and so are our cameras. And so is the word “internet”. Often times, we get out and start taking photos and the people on the scene ask, “Who are you with?” as if being citizens was not enough to justify our frustration and demand for solutions. . . this time, we were feeling particularly snarky for a Monday, we just said, “Satan”.
Thanks for the post. I should stop by your blog more often. I have been meaning on stopping and getting a photo of the Baumer Food sign you can see from the interstate. Interesting in that I was in the food business before real estate. I would like to find the fig preserves.