A crew ruptured a natural-gas line on Thursday on the South Calumet District work site, causing what the Chesterton Fire Department described as a “major leak” and forcing the evacuation of several buildings.

Firefighter Jamie Hicks told the Chesterton Tribune today that shortly before 10:30 a.m. a contractor working for a telephone service struck the six-inch NIPSCO gas line along 100E, just north of the intersection of 1100N.

100E is currently closed for widening and infrastructure improvements between Beverly Drive and 1100N.

Hicks said that a NIPSCO employee arrived on site within 15 minutes but that it took around two hours to muster a crew and the necessary equipment to shut off the gas flow.

In the meantime, Hicks said, the line was freely venting, forcing the closure of 100E south of the leak and 1100N. A couple of buildings were also evacuated, including the offices of Davies-Rensberger Surveying Inc. at 1105N 100E. The Chesterton Police Department and Street Department both responded to the scene to assist with traffic control.

“We were doing atmosphere monitoring along Beverly Drive and 1100 to make sure everything was okay,” Hicks said. “We were lucky we had a really good southeast breeze. It was taking the gas up and dissipating it.”

The CFD cleared the scene at 12:26 p.m. when NIPSCO succeeded in halting the gas flow.

The South Calumet District work site has been plagued by snafus of various sorts, mostly related to the locates--or mislocates--of utility infrastructure. In February a NIPSCO crew directional-boring a natural-gas line under 100E twice, within several weeks, hit and ruptured a 12-inch clay sanitary sewer line. In each case NIPSCO retained, at its own expense, the services of R.V. Sutton Inc. to repair the breaches.

Last fall an optic fiber node not previously located was discovered in the planned path of stormwater infrastructure beneath Beverly Drive. Re-designing around that node delayed the project by weeks. Another underground conflict: a non-potable water main at The Waters of Duneland which had been located prior to groundbreaking but to within plus or minus two feet either way.

Posted 6/19/2009