http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectID=11&articleID=20080112_238_A11_spanc57062Gas-line break disrupts downtown Emergency workers and their vehicles fill Second Street near Cincinnati Avenue, where a natural gas pipe was broken by heavy equipment during construction work Friday.
By CLIFTON ADCOCK World Staff Writer
1/12/2008
A high-pressure gas line break in downtown Tulsa caused the future city hall building, One Technology Center, to be evacuated Friday afternoon. A construction crew working in the intersection of Second Street and Cincinnati Avenue hit a 4-inch high-pressure gas line about 3 p.m., causing natural gas to rocket into the sky, Fire Department Capt. Larry Bowles said.
No one was injured, but 50 to 75 people in One Technology Center were evacuated to the Bank of Oklahoma Tower, which activated its emergency operation plan and cut off outside air sources to the building, Bowles said. The gas line was breached at an elbow in the pipe, and two separate gas mains fed into it, he said. As a result, the hole was difficult to patch, and crews had to shut off four separate valves, Bowles said. Oklahoma Natural Gas crews were able to fully shut off the gas about 5:45 p.m.
In the meantime, firefighters and police officers blocked off the surrounding streets one block in each direction, Bowles said, and the Fire Department's Hazardous Materials Unit monitored natural gas levels in the BOk Tower, One Technology Center and downwind of the breached pipe. Owasso gas leak: Meanwhile, Owasso traffic was diverted briefly Friday from the area of a natural gas leak at the Smith Farm Marketplace near 96th Street North and 121st East Avenue.
A reserve police officer called police about 11:15 a.m. and said he smelled gas in the area, Owasso Deputy Police Chief Scott Chambless said. The leak was caused when construction equipment snagged and punctured a gas line, ONG spokesman Don Sherry said. Crews shut down the line about an hour later and made the repair, Sherry said, adding that no gas service was disrupted. No injuries were reported, Chambless said.
Natural gas is colorless and odorless, although chemicals are added to give it an odor so that it can be detected, Bowles said. Although it takes large amounts to cause damage from inhaling the gas, its explosive nature makes any breach in a pipe dangerous.
