The Maine Public Utilities Commission was continuing this week to investigate the cause of a gas leak that lead to the evacuation of two blocks of downtown businesses and residences and stopped traffic in the city for several hours Friday.
The commission is trying to determine why a Verizon utility crew, while drilling a hole for a utility pole, hit a high-pressure gas main downtown at 10 a.m., despite measures taken to properly mark gas mains in the area. A high-pressure gas main is used to transport large amounts of gas throughout the city being directed into lower-pressure lines that supply gas to businesses and residences.
The gas leak Friday – Westbrook’s fifth in six months – follows what public safety officials have called an unusually high number of such incidents recently.
A string of leaks that occurred in the fall sparked an investigation into Northern Utilities, an energy services company based in Massachusetts, by the state’s Public Utilities Commission. According to Karen Geraghty, administrative director for the commission, that investigation is ongoing.
“We’ve had more than our fair share,” said Westbrook Fire Chief Gary Littlefield, who added that the city averages a couple a year.
“It’s a disturbing trend, not only in Westbrook, but all over the place,” said Mayor Bruce Chuluda, who is meeting with city staff Thursday to discuss the incident.
“I’m concerned,” he said.
Littlefield speculated that an increase in the amount of construction going on in the city could be responsible for the gas leaks. Northern Utilities offered the same explanation in October, when two gas leaks occurred on Speirs Street within five days of each other, shutting down Main Street both times.
Sheila Doiron, spokeswoman for Northern Utilities, also said in October that gas lines on Speirs Street may have been improperly marked due to old records. Earlier that month, the Public Utilities Commission had filed a probable violation against Northern Utilities for “reckless or negligent” marking of gas lines in South Portland, where a home exploded on Oct. 1 due to a gas leak. In that incident, the state fire marshal determined the gas was ignited by a pilot light on a water heater in the basement.
Doiron said Tuesday that Northern Utilities is looking into work done by On Target Utility Services, the company that was hired to identify the location of underground facilities at the site of Friday’s leak.
Though no serious injuries have occurred, the leaks pose serious safety problems, according to Littlefield.
It was several hours before the gas could be shut off Friday after the utility crew hit the high-pressure gas main at Spring Street and William Clarke Drive. One unidentified worker said debris blew across three lanes of traffic when the line erupted.
Littlefield called Friday’s leak “very severe” and said the area was evacuated due to the potential for an explosion, as well as sickness caused by the inhalation of the toxic gas that spread throughout the area.
“It smells like someone left an oven on,” Candice Mitchell said Friday, after she awoke to the odor of gas in her Main Street apartment.
“You can taste the gas in the back of your throat,” said Westbrook Public Works employee Martin Colello, as he hurried along Pleasant Street helping to secure the area.
The post office, the Walker Memorial Library, banks and other businesses were evacuated as a safety precaution.
Michelle Luce, assistant branch manager at Maine Bank and Trust, said it took employees about 10 minutes to get out of the building after they received the call from public safety.
Because proper measures needed to be taken to make sure the money in the bank was secure, “We couldn’t get out right way, like they wanted us to,” Luce said Tuesday.
The gas leak in Westbrook was capped at around 2:30 p.m. Pete Cloutier, safety coordinator for Verizon, praised the fast response of public safety crews, calling them “good professionals on the job.”
“Thank goodness no one was hurt,” he said.
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