Solar field testing disrupts factories, hospital

Jul. 28—It was bad.

Those three words uttered multiple times by Bob Dunderman of Logansport Municipal Utilities summed up the latest go-round with the solar field west of Holland Street, between Market and Water streets.

Two weeks ago, LMU and Inovateus Solar of South Bend engaged in testing the site, which went off without a hitch. That was far from the case this week.

At the Utility Service Board meeting Tuesday, Dunderman said "they had problems."

Starting a bit before 8 a.m. Tuesday, power began flickering and then completely went out for many customers. Logansport Memorial Hospital and Myers Spring were impacted — as was Matthew-Warren, which probably suffered the most damage.

The manufacturing facility was without power for five hours, causing the plant to eventually shut down.

Dunderman said the LMU breaker was closed to the solar field last week. And on Tuesday, Inovateus chose to close its breaker to LMU, and then opened it back up. They waited another 10 to 15 minutes and did the same thing. Over and over.

This caused 7,500 amps of fault current to pass through the lines, "and that is not good," said Dunderman. "We had no problems on our side."

But when Inovateus closed the breaker so that a back-feed on their system for hot-line testing could be done, chaos ensued and no one from the solar field called LMU to ask for help, Dunderman continued, explaining that if someone had alerted the utilities company, then the day may not have been as disastrous. "Matthew-Warren wouldn't have had to close."

And the hospital may not have had to rely on its generator.

Yet, it took crews a while to locate the problem. And then it required additional time to repair the damage.

The disruption left a lot of people upset and frustrated.

"Someone intentionally pushed three more times and that's a problem," said Superintendent Greg Toth. "Now, we need to see their procedures and we need them in writing."

Before LMU opts to purchase any power from the solar field, Toth said every single hiccup will be remedied.

"Everything works properly on our end," assured Dunderman. "Our breakers acted properly."

Due to the recent debacle, Toth said he will bring in a third party at Inovateus' expense to "tell us when it is safe to turn on. We will not approve taking power until everything is straightened out and working properly."

Safety concern

Kim Kesler, health and safety coordinator, informed the board of LMU's latest purchase: 19 Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) and five self-basket rescue kits.

LMU did not have any of these life-savings devices, Kesler said. But now, all basket trucks, managers, and foremen will have an AED, which cost $1,200 each. All employees will be trained on CPR, first aid, and on the AEDs.

Some employees also will undergo training with the basket kits, possibly as soon as next week. The kits provide a rope and a hoist that can click onto the bucket and the worker's harness. In an emergency, the worker will be able to let himself down from the bucket — as high as 100 feet above ground for the tallest equipment at LMU.

So far, Kesler said LMU has maintained a solid pattern of accident-free hours. Water has gone 70,189 hours injury-free, while electricity is at 2,235.75 hours without injury, and wastewater is at 22,122.50 hours.

Marty Monahan, board member, said that "LMU has an exemplary safety record. The numbers reflect the way it's been for a long time. This is outstanding."

Demolition

Light demolition on the former Power Generating Plant at Eighth and Race streets, the water plant, including the 125,000-gallon tower at 1100 Riverside Drive, and the coal conveyor that spans the Eel River began Wednesday. Toth said walls should begin coming down Thursday and Friday.

Meanwhile, LMU still has until Aug. 12 to find out if it will receive the $500,000 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) with the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs (OCRA).

Melbourne Avenue

LMU's Cameron Dillon said that the Melbourne Avenue project is on track to finish in October. Within the next few weeks, crews will lay concrete and 10-foot sidewalks from Third Street, east to Amelio's. All sidewalks will be handicapped- or ADA-accessible on both sides, he said.

Reach Kristi Hileman at kristi.hileman@pharostribune.com or 574-732-5150.