UGI crews in Stroud Township for a gas leak - a 4 inch line was hit by water company workers @WNEP http://t.co/MkwOOlZS5T—
Amanda Kelley (@wnepamandak) September 09, 2015
STROUD TOWNSHIP -- Several homes in Monroe County had to be evacuated Wednesday morning after a gas leak.
The Stroud Township fire chief tells us workers with Brodhead Creek Regional Authority struck a four-inch natural gas line on Mill Creek Road around 9:30 a.m.
Two homes were evacuated and officials say another three more may need to be evacuated as well.
"We were working on the water line, putting new service lines across the street for the house and we were boring across the road and we accidentally hit the gas line," explained Paul Labar, Brodhead Creek Regional Authority.
Crews used an air compressor to try to spread out the gas, but the smell and the danger were still in the air.
"(It's a) four-inch gas main. I don't know how much gas it's releasing, but it is a significant leak," said Stroud Township Volunteer Fire Chief William Unruh.
Brodhead Creek Regional Authority workers say they knew gas lines were nearby but thought they were in the clear with their machines.
"It started pushing a little hard at first and then it went real easy and we smelled the gas coming back out," said Labar.
Although a significant amount of gas is leaking into the air along Mill Creek Road, it was not enough to stop crews from working on a bridge project less than a block away.
Officials say the roads were already closed by the bridge work, so there wasn't much traffic control to do.
"That's a benefit right now, we're not closing any roads, just a portion of a road that's already closed."
UGI sent repair crews from out of the area to fix the pipe. UGI says no one lost gas service during the repairs.
Brodhead Creek Regional Authority says it will likely have to continue the work on the water line later this week.