When there was an emergency at the Power Plant, Physical Plant staffers teamed up to correct the problem.

At about 5 p.m. on Jan. 17, First Engineer Gerard Psujek and members of his shift (Second Engineer Mike Kane, Third Engineer Bill O’Rourke, Boiler Operator II Joe Atkins and Boiler Operator I Mike Bowling) were first on the scene when a frozen valve had broken in the Power Plant’s coal handling fire protection system. The system had malfunctioned because of frigid temperatures.

While the repair was going on, members of Psujek’s shift monitored the control room and collaborated with a campus operator, Engineer IV/Supervisor Gary Mell, and the East Lansing Fire Department, who had consequentially showed up when the alarm was falsely triggered.

Maintenance Mechanic II Jayme Smith hurried to assist after receiving an emergency call from a campus operator at about 6 p.m. that day.

Smith said that the source of the problem was a broken clapper valve inside a water storage “drum drip” container. The valve is normally used to keep the water at bay in a warm environment, protected by air in the pipe, when a fire is not present. But because the valve was broken, water was exposed and frozen in the container. Smith later found two (out of 10 total) other frozen containers needing to be thawed.

First Engineer Ernie Fife and members of his shift (Second Engineer David Falconer, Third Engineer Donna Schlittenhardt, Boiler Operator II Tom Testa and Boiler Operator I Andy Beech) assisted Smith with securing the Power Plant fire system, disabling and isolating it before repairs were made using a propane torch to thaw the frozen water containers. They used an air compressor to blow the thawed ice water out of the mile-long conveyer system.

Workers fixed the problem by midnight that same day. This quick response and action prevented a potential flooding of the plant's fuel delivery system which would have created a dangerous frozen sheet of ice due to the weekend's frigid temperatures.

January 29, 2009