DEPOT LEAKING DOUGH
Sprinkler system pipes keep failing, as fire watch tab soars
Investigators at the state Department of Labor visited the MTA’s East New York Bus Depot at least twice last week amid continued complaints that the fire sprinkler system at the complex remains inoperable, the Daily News has learned.
The Brooklyn depot’s sprinkler system has been out of commission for more than two years, racking up overtime costs for a round-the-clock fire watch required by fire codes and sparking safety concerns among NYC Transit employees.
The visits by state regulators were sparked by at least one failed pressure test last week, in which the sprinkler system again failed to hold even half the water pressure required under federal occupational safety rules.
During that test, a pipe running through the facility’s boiler room ruptured, causing “flooding conditions,” according to a complaint filed with the state and reviewed by The News.
Employees at the depot said they were aware of at least two additional failed tests this month.
Transit officials acknowledged the failed tests.
“The MTA continues tests to isolate the core problem with the fire suppression system,” agency spokesman Michael Cortez said in a statement. “While this testing takes place, safety measures remain at the depot to ensure worker safety and allow for essential bus service to continue to operate out of the depot.”
MTA crews have isolated two suspected underground leaks in the system, and are continuing testing to identify additional problem areas in the existing plumbing, Cortez said.
Much of the system is antiquated, with some sections containing century-old plumbing.
The MTA scrapped a plan to line the old plumbing with epoxy by the end of last year.
A design is currently in the works — and money has been set aside — for an eventual replacement of the sprinkler system, Cortez said.
In the meantime, multiple transit employees at the site have said the MTA is carrying out “Band-Aid” fixes, in which only the small sections that leak are being replaced, one by one.
The sprinkler at the East New York Bus Depot — home to about 250 buses as well as maintenance, repair and tire shops, and MTA offices — has been failing tests due to burst pipes for more than two years.
Transit officials have repeatedly stressed that East New York Depot is safe, citing the 24/7 fire watch, in which employees patrol the facility for signs of danger.
That coverage comes at a price. MTA officials wouldn’t comment on the total cost of fire watch overtime at the facility, but an accounting of the depot’s highest fire watch earners — obtained by The News in August — showed 19 employees who had made a combined $2.4 million over their base salary during the course of a year.
Those employees appear to be just a portion of the workers assigned to the patrols. Bus depot employees say more than 30 workers pull fire watch shifts.
The Department of Labor has cited the MTA numerous times over problems with the depot’s fire alarm control panels, several of which routinely display error codes.
Photos reviewed by The News show at least two control panels with trouble codes as recently as last week.
The city fire code requires the roundthe-clock fire watch to continue until the sprinklers and alarm systems are repaired.