The town said Tuesday that it has recently had to replace about 20 manhole covers that have been stolen.
The department said that in addition to creating serious driving hazards, replacing each manhole cover costs about $400 to replace, not counting labor costs.
On Wednesday, the town said, "In response to Mr. (William) Naughton bringing this serious situation to our attention, the Town is adding a new “missing manhole cover” category to Huntington at Your Service, the town’s web-based citizen request management system. In particular, this will allow users of smart phones with the H@YS app to take a picture of a structure missing a manhole cover and send it to the Town. The GPS function on the phone will precisely locate where a replacement cover is needed."
Anyone who sees someone removing a cover is asked to contact the Suffolk County Police Department or the Highway Hotline at 631-499-0444.
"These covers are protecting people and pets from falling into underground drainage structures that can be 20-30 feet deep and filled with water," the department said. "There are no ladders in some of them and they are made of concrete and cast steel. The potential for serious injury and death is a real possibility."
Covers have been stolen from:
Locust Place, Amherst Court, Soundview Road and Skyline Drive, Copperdale Lane, Stony Hollow Road, Caton Street and Cedar Road, Brompton Place and Windham Drive.
The department said there are about 30,000 covers in Huntington.
