What 4th amendment?
In RI, a gas shortage. So, the local utility is going door-to-door shutting off valves. If you’re not home, the police and a locksmith will force entry into your home and shut it off.
15 Responses to “What 4th amendment?”
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December 23rd, 2011 at 10:55 am
As someone who has seen hoes explode from gas leaks, I actually support this. When they turn the gas back on for the area, it could be very dangerous if any valves are on.
December 23rd, 2011 at 11:04 am
Not turning individual home gas valves off means kabooms when the supply is turned back on. My meters for as have always been outside with the valve though with a lockout. Have never seen an inside cutoff.
December 23rd, 2011 at 11:08 am
Cross-posted. I suggested we voluntarily begin learning Deutchland Uber Alles, before it’s made mandatory!
December 23rd, 2011 at 11:09 am
Wonder what they do with alarm systems, rip them off the wall along with the siren?
December 23rd, 2011 at 11:13 am
I read it as they’re breaking in to shut them off to quell the shortage. And they should shut off at the street.
December 23rd, 2011 at 11:28 am
Well, as long as they don’t revoke the 3rd amendment, we’ll be good. Damn soldiers, with their quartering and their lodgering.
December 23rd, 2011 at 11:31 am
Unless the Gas Code in RI is totally different from everywhere else, there is no reason to break in. The gas can be shut off in the street, or failing that, at the meters (which can then be sealed to indicate tampering).
If there are illegal gas set-ups that prevent outside access to the main valve, code requires the entire house be disconnected from the street gas supply pipe, and the house’s supply pipe capped off.
There’s a right way and a wrong way to do everything.
December 23rd, 2011 at 11:51 am
Not all meters are in the street. Especially in old cities. They were often in the basements – had to keep them out of the elements when they were first introduced.
That is one reason that there has been a big push lately for wireless meter reading.
And you still need to turn off each appliance. Or when you turn things back on – yes, some furnaces still have pilot lights – the buildings can fill up with gas. Then anything – a refrigerator motor, a cell-phone ringing, an alarm clock, whatever – can cause an explosion.
(In case you’ve forgotten, CODE dictates how new stuff gets built, not to what happens to a 100-year-old apartment building.)
If the gas company ever shut off a street – which they try like mad not to have to do, they can’t turn anyone back on until they see to everyone.
And I would be willing to bet that in the fine print on the back of your gas bill, or in page 47 of the agreement implicit in ordering gas service, you conveyed the right to enter in an emergency to the company or its representatives.
Zuckerburg was right. There is no such thing as privacy.
December 23rd, 2011 at 11:54 am
My gas meter is inside my basement, not outside. I don’t know if there is an outside cut-off. The meter was installed by the gas company to replace an older unit that could not be remotely read. The house dates to the 1920’s, though I don’t know when the natural gas feed was put in. Evidence suggests that the progression of heating technology is coal> oil> gas, so I doubt the incoming gas line was original equipment.
December 23rd, 2011 at 2:50 pm
Thanks Ian .. and there is yer answer.
Old homes with meters and regulators inside instead of streetside.
December 23rd, 2011 at 6:11 pm
The problem is not the meter or whether there is an external shutoff, nut that many gas furnaces and appliances, such as mine here in Pawtucket RI, still have a “pilot light” (which in general I approve, as it also generates the small amount of electricity needed to power a thermostat, less than 1 AAA battery worth, so loss of electricity – far more prevalent – does not affect my heat or cooking). If the supply fails, as in an outside valve being shut off, then when supply returns some pilots may be open and allow gas to escape. My own pilots will not, they shut off if supply fails and require manual re-opening of the valve[s] as well as re-lighting of the flame.
Nor is this a LEO operation, they are present as support in case of a problem in much the same way they are often present at roadworks [ they are not doing the work themselves. Since your (or your landlord’s) contract with the supplier includes right of access, a warrant is not needed by the company employee.
OTOH yes, if a LEO enters there had better be some other factor (such as a resident threatening force against the gas-company employee) before the entry.
December 23rd, 2011 at 7:00 pm
Hmm, maybe the gas valve thing is just a canard to do a quick check for PC in each house, and bring in the SWAT team if they find something. Is there really even a gas shortage? Gotsta wonder, these days.
December 24th, 2011 at 12:02 am
This wouldn’t even be a topic of discussion if energy were produced and provided as it should be: via decentralized legitimate competition.
December 24th, 2011 at 4:44 am
What if you have high security locks that the guy can’t pick? They’d have a hell of a time trying to get into my place unless they’ve got a lot of practice with BiLocks.
December 24th, 2011 at 1:31 pm
Didn’t anybody actually read the article? The reason for the gas supply shutdown was that the company detected AIR inside the gas pipeline. They didn’t explain why this was bad, but I’m assuming (in the absence of facts) that air/oxygen in a natural gas pipeline is considered to be potentially catastrophic because of the possibility of the formation of a potentially flammable mixture.
Natural gas, in 100% concentration, can’t burn. But mix the oxygen present in air with it, and it can burn quite nicely. Sometimes, given just the right (wrong) concentration, it can deflagrate or even detonate. So they shut down the gas supply for safety reasons.
Similarly they’re entering homes prior to re-pressurizing the gas line in order to shut off any appliances (gas hot water heaters, furnaces) which might not have automatic shut-off valves. In my house (built in 1901, with a gas furnace burner put into place of the original coal-fired grate) the gas meter is indoors; so is the shut-off valve.
My hot water heater runs on a pilot light. If the gas were to fail, it’s SUPPOSED to shut off…but it might not; I’ve never tested it. A lot of older water heaters don’t have automatic shut-off’s for the pilot light. Turn off the gas, the pilot goes out. Turn the gas back on, there’s nothing to prevent the pilot’s gas supply from filling the basement. Find an ignition source (like somebody pushing a door-bell, or turning on a light) you can blow the entire house off its foundation, endangering not just the inhabitants, but also neighboring houses.
We’ve seen a lot of houses going “boom” around here, since the abandoned houses often get stripped of the copper pluming and gas lines. The thieves will rip the stuff right out of the walls without regard to the risk of gas explosions. Once they’re gone, the house fills with an explosive mixture of gas and air, and you’ve got a recipe for a VERY big bang.
I’m guessing (again, with an absence of facts) that the cops are there only to provide over-watch for the locksmiths and gas company personnel who are doing their darndest to provide safety and service to the customers. I’d also guess that any evidence of a crime, resulting from such an un-warranted (literally) search would be completely inadmissible…but, IANAL, nor do I play one on TV, so YMMV.