Man Faces Felony Charges For Unlicensed Work At NH Motor Speedway

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A contractor at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway is facing charges for unlicensed and defective work that could have led to deadly carbon monoxide leaks there, the state fire marshal said.

Arrest warrants for Jeffrey May and his company, May Heating and Cooling of Salem, were announced Friday by Fire Marshal William Degnan and Loudon police and fire officials. A business associate told authorities that May fled to Louisiana. It wasn't immediately clear if he had a lawyer.

"The appliances installed by May and his company had so many violations they had to be shut down until a compliance plan could be developed," Degnan said.

May, formerly of Pelham, was charged with one count of theft by deception, a felony; two counts of unlicensed fuel gas fitting work and one count of falsifying documents, both misdemeanors; and 11 counts of violating the state fire safety code, a violation. His company faces similar charges.

All charges stem from a furnace replacement project at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway, which is a stop for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in July and the Sylvania 300 in September.

Officials say the investigation began when local code officials could not identify the license number filed by May on a permit application.

Degnan said more than a half dozen gas leaks were discovered by the licensed fuel gas fitters hired to correct the violations. Authorities say he also performed unlicensed fuel fitting work using venting material that melts at a very low exhaust temperature, which could have led to a carbon monoxide leak.

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