Plaintiffs blast BGE over gas utility work in Baltimore, wait for emergency hearing

BALTIMORE - BGE continues to install new gas equipment on homes in Federal Hill despite a lawsuit that asks a judge to stop the utility. 

Plaintiffs remain steadfast in their opposition and are asking more people to join in their legal battle.

Days after being arrested protesting BGE's installation of gas regulators outside homes, Sandy Seward said she allowed the company to place one inside a rental property she owns so her tenants could have hot water.

"It feels like a violation to me personally and to my home," Seward told WJZ Investigator Mike Hellgren. "I feel very powerless and again threatened, coerced. It's not the guys working on the street. It's not their fault. Quite frankly, I'm exhausted."

"This is the army. There are the folks that BGE is afraid are going to disrupt the activity," said attorney Thiru Vignarajah, who is representing the plaintiffs, as he motioned to them at a news conference Tuesday afternoon on Warren Avenue. 

He wants a court to block the installation of external high-pressure gas regulators the plaintiffs believe are ugly and unsafe. 

"We have asked BGE repeatedly to just take a pause. If they're so confident they are going to prevail in court, just take a minute to allow these homeowners to not have their gas cut off while there is pending litigation," Vignarajah said.

The plaintiffs are not just from Federal Hill, where several were arrested in protest last week.

"We haven't received any notification from BGE. The first I personally heard about it was when I saw BGE workers on my private property. I saw them out my window and went and asked them, 'Hey, guys, what are you doing?' And that is the very first time I heard about it," said Paula Fernandes, from Mount Vernon.

Fernandes wondered why the company changed its position—initially installing the regulators inside some homes with vents—now mandating them outside. 

"It's horrible bullying if you ask me," she said. 

"The hypocrisy jumps off the page. BGE just three years ago advocated against exterior regulators saying they were not appropriate for Baltimore City," Vignarajah said as BGE representatives watched the news conference nearby. 

BGE said in a statement that external gas regulators are safer and provide easier access to first responders, and if they leak, the gas will escape outdoors and not build up inside homes. The company notes the "resulting explosion could be catastrophic."

BGE also posted a timeline, insisting they gave proper notice to cut off gas to some residents who will not allow the new regulators to be installed. While some customers contend they were given just three days' notice. 

 Previous coverage

• Baltimore City Council wants to hear from BGE, customers over gas regulator dispute
• Customers arrested protesting BGE gas equipment sue utility as work continues in Federal Hill
• Baltimore residents argue in lawsuit BGE can't force 'dangerous' exterior gas regulator on customers
  
• Women arrested at protest in Federal Hill face charges of interfering with BGE's utility work
• Officers arrest Baltimore residents after hours-long standoff over BGE work in Federal Hill
• Baltimore residents seek injunction to stop BGE from installing external gas regulators