Gas line broken in Avon Lake
Steve Fogarty | The Chronicle-Telegram
AVON LAKE — City firefighters spent a few nervous hours Monday keeping an eye on a gas leak after an excavation crew installing sewers along Moore Road accidentally punctured a line feeding the PolyOne plant.
The incident began about 10:15 a.m. when a Fabrizi Excavating and Paving Co. crew digging in front of 668 Moore Road cut through a 3-inch gas line leading to the plastics plant.
“It was a medium-pressure line, but it was spitting out natural gas at 600 psi (pounds per square inch),” Avon Lake Fire Department Lt. Larry Grizzell said. “This was a significant commercial line. We took readings with meters, and there was no significant amount of gas in the air. These things normally happen in residential areas, where gas line pressures are around 40 psi.”
The break occurred at a point where the 3-inch plastic gas line splits off a larger 5-inch metallic line.
“It was determined that no one had to be evacuated,” said Grizzell. “Odds of an explosion are slight in such cases, but it can be a precarious situation.”
The excavation work was being done in a hole that was roughly 10 feet across and 6 feet deep.
“We don’t think they knew it was there. That’s why they hit it. Someone may have inadvertently forgotten to mark it,” Grizzell said.
Firefighters remained on the scene for several hours until a Columbia Gas welder arrived to make repairs.
“It took him three hours to get there,” said Grizzell. “We don’t know how far he had to come, but our understanding is that he could be working anywhere in Ohio.”
Once the welder arrived, repairs were made fairly quickly.
No one was injured, but fire officials they believed the incident shut down production for the day at Poly One.
Messages left at PolyOne were not returned, and Columbia Gas officials were not reached for comment.
Contact Steve Fogarty at 329-7146 or sfogarty@chroniclet.com.
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Filed by Steve Fogarty | The Chronicle-Telegram August 19th, 2008 in Local and State. Popularity: 3% |
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