Mayor Menino's looked like he's had steam coming from his ears before. Exhibit A: Aqua Teen Hunger Force. But, recently, he's come quite close to having steam literally coming from his ears.

An explosion caused by steam in an old pipe rattled New York City, killing one and leaving a gaping hole in a street near Grand Central. Now Mayor Menino is wondering if a similar explosion could happen here.

The sudden awareness of the pipe situation isn't an attempt to ride New York's coattails. Steam from Boston's underground pipes have injured people in the past.

The pipes under the city are old, and the city has very little control over the pipes. Mayor Menino is calling for regulation of these pipes, and he proposed a bill in December to put the Department of Public Utilities in charge. The private company who runs the pipes, Trigen, is resistant to that kind of change.

The Herald points out that state regulation of Trigen would be similar to the regulation of gas and electric energy. The Herald also interviewed a guy whose cellar reached 116 degrees thanks to the pipe steam.

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