BARRY COUNTY, Mich. — A gas main leak under Thornapple River is causing problems for Barry County customers, Consumer's Energy says.
The leak began on a six-inch steel gas main Wednesday night, which caused a loss of pressure in the natural gas system for residents of the Hastings area.
They will be going door-to-door to area customers Thursday to temporarily disconnect their natural gas. Consumers Energy says the entire city of Hastings, as well as east into Nashville is without gas.
Media Relations Manager for Consumers Energy Brian Wheeler, says they are currently on scene to put the bypass line in place and that the gas is no longer flowing through the damaged line. However, the bigger fix will probably stretch into the weekend.
"Because of the leak, we lost gas pressure that affected our customers in the area. And so what we have to do in this case is we're putting a temporary bypass and replacement gas line in place," Wheeler said. "We disconnect everybody from the system. And once that new gas line is ready, we reconnect everybody. So we we expect that today on Thursday, we're going to start the process of reconnecting people to our gas system that will take today and tomorrow for sure. And likely will continue into the weekend."
Consumers says about 4,500 customers will be affected. They expect to fix the problem by the end of the weekend.
The company has also been in contact with local and county leaders, as well as the hospital to help provide needed resources.
“Consumers Energy truly appreciates the patience of our customers during this unusual situation,” said Christopher Fultz, Consumers Energy’s vice president of natural gas operations. “We are committed to our customers and understand that this will create a hardship. We are in contact with community leaders, and our crews will be working around the clock to safely return full natural gas service to the entire community.”
It is unknown what caused the gas leak at this time.
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