Figuring that the best legal defense is to be offensive, ConEd is suing NYC for the 2007 midtown Manhattan steam pipe explosion that killed one woman and horribly burned two other people. Dozens more were injured in the blast that made 41st and Lexington Ave. look like an erupting volcano, as a plume of steam shot high into the air.
ConEd is on the receiving end of dozens of lawsuits related to the explosion, many from businesses that were financially affected, as the blocks around the blast site were a no-go zone for about a week while people labored around the clock to repair the steam pipe and clean up debris. Now ConEd is getting in on the action by suing NYC, and in effect its taxpayers for improperly maintaining the 83-year-old pipe.
Although state utility regulators found that ConEd was doing an insufficient job in maintaining its underground steam delivery infrastructure, ConEd maintains that a contractor hired by the City was responsible for injecting a sealant into the system that led to the pipe's explosion.
