Enbridge Gas says crews have been working to restore service to around 150 customers in the city after a third-party contractor not affiliated with the company struck a gas line.
City Service Director Ron McAbier says it happened on Wednesday afternoon while the contractor was boring to run fiber for high-speed internet.
“It went through the main gas line and then traveled on, and approximately two-feet away from there was our main two-inch waterline. So that ended up piercing the waterline, and the water actually went over into the gas line. So that’s what they’re doing now is trying to purge all of that water out of the gas line.”
The outage is in 100 and 200 blocks of Second and Third Street Southwest, and on parts of Front Avenue and Bank Lane.
“With our water leak, it had about 10 people out, and we were able to get everyone back on about 9 o’clock last night. We couldn’t dispatch out there right away because we were dealing with one over on Chauncey and Oak.”
McAbier notes that both lines were marked and that the contractor was to blame.
“We got a halt on ‘em right now. They can still pull wire through the conduits and stuff like that but no more drilling until the gas company can get everything remedied and get everybody back in service because we don’t want that to happen again.”
The gas company couldn’t provide a timeline for restoration due to the nature of the outage. Officials there say impacted customers received an automated message and that overnight accommodation is available if needed.
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