This is a Single Mode UPC patch panel that is in an underground telecommunication chamber called a CEV or controlled environment vault. It used to have power, battery back-up, sump pumps and air conditioning. During sandy this area had been flooded and it was decided to decommission the CEV and treat it like a Manhole. The fiber cables that linked thousands of circuits began to corrode the jumpers, the fiber and the entire patch panel. This part of the systems has finally been bypassed, but for a long time we would have to come down into this very unhealthy chamber with sludge and mucky water. Sometimes we would unplug and clean these connectors but most often we would straight splice the fibers in the back of the panel. we couldnt even access the proper splice trays because if we tried to move them the corrosion had made them too fragile and more would break.
Some of the plastic is so swollen and has blisters that it reminded us of horror movie mutations
