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Woman In Steam Blast Sues

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By ADAM GOLDMAN, The Associated Press

Published: February 15, 2008

NEW YORK - A woman whose leg was injured after a steam pipe exploded in midtown Manhattan last summer sued a utility for $10 million on Thursday, claiming it was responsible for her injuries.
Margo Kane, 71, spent months in the hospital and endured grueling surgeries and infections since the July 18 blast, which sent a mountain of steam and mud into the air and people running for their lives. She's hoping her foot won't have to be amputated.

Kane's lawsuit, filed in Manhattan court, follows a state Public Service Commission hearing in which it was revealed that a Consolidated Edison employee had warned that an 84-year-old pipe at the center of the explosion needed to be replaced.

During the PSC hearing in Albany on Wednesday, a June 2006 picture of the pipe that erupted was produced, along with a notation. The employee who took the photograph wrote: "Pipe is dented & pitted in several places. Should change pipe!"

Ken Thompson, one of the lead plaintiff attorneys in the case against Con Ed and the city, said the picture was damning.

"It's evidence of reckless indifference on the part of Con Ed," Thompson said. "What it shows to me is that they knew there was a problem with their pipe. This is the smoking gun."

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