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Crews Working to Replace Entire Gas Line in Taylor Housing Complex

TAYLOR — More than 24 hours after a gas leak was discovered in Lackawanna County, residents in one development still can’t return to their homes. Cr...

TAYLOR -- More than 24 hours after a gas leak was discovered in Lackawanna County, residents in one development still can't return to their homes.

Crews stayed busy Wednesday night, working to replace the entire gas line at this housing development on Kennedy and Little League Boulevards in Taylor.

The decision was made earlier in the day to replace the entire gas line, as opposed to just the part of the line responsible for the leak.

Things have not been easy for people like Eric Lorber. He's lived in the development for the past six years. And for the past six years, he's had very few problems living here until that is, Tuesday night.

"Firefighter knocked on the door and said a gas line was leaking and we had to leave," Lorber said.

He's just one of more of than a hundred people displaced after the gas leak. The development is owned by the Lackawanna County Housing Authority, and since then, crews have been doing everything they can to avoid a larger problem--having the water pipes freeze as the temperature continues to drop.

As a result, the housing authority brought in space heaters for the apartments and has the water running in all of them.

It was a waiting game for the housing authority for UGI, the gas company, to arrive on scene. Once they did, a decision was made to replace all the pipes to best avoid future problems.

"When they start putting these lines in, they'll energize them and start putting people back," said Jim Dartt with the Lackawanna County Housing Authority.

The new gas lines will be replaced in phases. That means different parts of the line will be turned on at different times. Which ultimately means they hope to have at least some of those displaced residents back into their homes as early as Thursday night.

In the meantime, the housing authority says they'll continue to put displaced residents up in area hotels like the Econolodge in Scranton.

"We're trying our hardest and we'll continue to support them and put them up in hotels and provide them meals and continue to do that. We're working as fast as we can," Dartt said.

The housing authority says work will be done around the clock and they hope to have everyone back in their homes as early as next week.

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