Thursday, December 11, 2014

ANOTHER RUPTURE OF UNMARKED GAS PIPELINE: GAS MAIN BREAK PROMPTS MANDATORY EVACUATIONS IN ELMWOOD PARK, NJ. RESIDENTS RETURN HOME AFTER THE REPAIRS



ANOTHER RUPTURE OF UNMARKED GAS PIPELINE:  Gas Main Break Prompts Mandatory Evacuations in elmwood park, nj.  Residents Return Home After the repairs




Thursday, Dec 11, 2014 • Updated at 5:22 PM EST


Residents are being allowed to return to their homes after a contractor struck a gas main near a former paper factory in New Jersey Thursday afternoon, causing a break, officials and the company said.


Police say buildings a block south and three blocks north of the old Marcal paper plant on Market Street near River Road in Elmwood Park were under the mandatory evacuation order after the noon break.


The contractor that caused the break was working for Soundview Paper, which manufactures the Marcal brand of tissue products.  In a statement, Mark Vertucci, director of engineering for Soundview, said the PSE&G pipeline the contractor hit was unmarked and the leak was minor.


"Soundview security responded immediately, notifying local police, fire officials and PSE&G," Vertucci said. "The leak has been capped. No one was injured and no property was damaged."


A shelter was set up at a recreation center on Boulevard Street to assist displaced residents and workers during the brief evacuation.  

We recently wrote about the problem with the unmarked gas pipelines here:


THE DANGERS OF UNMARKED GAS PIPELINES.  Second gas leak due to natural gas pipe rupture in two days shuts part of Route 13 in Levittown, PA.  Unmarked Pipelines to blame.


This is a very common occurrence for us who do construction work in the older neighborhoods of Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, etc:  many gas maps are not accurate and quite a few of the older pipelines are not shown on the maps and they are not marked by the gas companies.  The end result could be a disaster, as it became evident with the recent incidents in Levittown, PA and now in Elmwood, Park, NJ.