Second Morrisville gas leak prompts road closure, evacuations

For the second time in less than a week, a portion of Town Hall Drive and several municipal buildings in Morrisville were evacuated Monday morning after a contractor damaged an underground gas line.

Posted 3:22 p.m. Jul 30, 2012 — Updated 4:55 p.m. Jul 30, 2012

MORRISVILLE, N.C. — For the second time in less than a week, a portion of Town Hall Drive and several municipal buildings in Morrisville were evacuated Monday morning after a contractor damaged an underground gas line.

The pipe break happened about 10:15 a.m., when a contractor for the town was digging to install a light in front of Fire Station One. The leak prompted the closure of Town Hall Drive from Morrisville-Carpenter Road to Jeremiah Street and the evacuation of Fire Station One, the Parks and Recreation Administration Offices and the Public Safety and Municipal Services Building/Morrisville Chamber of Commerce.

The gas was shut off and the buildings reopened about two hours later, said Angie Townsend, spokeswoman for PSNC Energy.

She said Monday's pipe break was in the same location as one that happened Thursday, when a different contractor hit the line. That break caused the evacuation of the parks and recreation and public safety buildings for about an hour.

No injuries were reported in either incident.

Townsend said crews were expected to spend most of Monday repairing the break because they have to dig down to the 8-inch pipe and convert the supply to another line.

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