A project to prevent the kind of utility failures experienced during Superstorm Sandy was celebrated by South Jersey Gas and state utility officials as it was officially completed yesterday. As John DeRosier wrote in the Press of Atlantic City, the project was part of a larger movement in New Jersey to improve resiliency during major storms.
The SJ Gas project, called the Storm Hardening and Reliability Program, converted natural gas distribution mains from a low-pressure to a high-pressure system in several shore towns. The move will prevent water and sand from getting into the system during a major weather event.
“We had the low-pressure during Hurricane Sandy, and what happened was water and sand got into the system and discontinued service,” South Jersey Gas President Dave Robbins said. “We won’t have that anymore.”
