LIPA gives its contactor two weeks to shape up

The Long Island Power Authority has set a September 30 deadline for its contractor, Bortech.

This was after the failure by the contractor to move pipes out of the tunnel it has dug under the harbor from Crescent Beach to Southold.

Bortech is working at freeing a broken drill rig part that became stuck in hardened clay underwater. Once that process is completed, Bortech would determine whether piping has to be pulled back to the Shelter Island side and re-threaded through the tunnel, or there’s a way to fix the existing drilling rig, or attach a new one at the point of the breakdown.

But nothing has gone according to plan. At Tuesday’ Town Board work session, Supervisor Jim Dougherty said LIPA officials told him they were giving, Bortech two weeks to fix the problems.

Mr. Dougherty said a “cutter” arrived last Friday to cut three pipes and the contractor is “using a reamer to try and push them out.”

When that failed, the September 30 deadline was set.

“[LIPA] has also set further deadlines which they haven’t at this point shared with us,” Mr. Dougherty said.

The power company has also been in touch with the bond company that issued performance bonds for the project, Mr. Dougherty added.