Another Foxhall Village Gas Leak

A powerful gas leak that erupted from a Foxhall Village street on Tuesday night was followed by a day of repairs. And then on Thursday, DC Water workers showed up at the site, saying they were there to fix a sewer pipe.

What caused the leak in the Washington Gas line and what’s been done to avoid a recurrence remains unclear.

Exactly what time the gas leak started isn’t clear, but it was sometime Tuesday night. The hiss and sulfurous scent of mercaptan filled the air at the south end of 44^th Street.

The sensory commotion came from under steel plates covering a pipe trench just north of P Street, where gas line work has been occurring off and on for months.

A neighbor, arriving at his home a block away, smelled the chemical odorant that is added to scentless natural gas and called 911 at about 11:30 p.m. Firefighters came first, as they did some weeks earlier for a late-night gas leak at a nearby house.

A Washington Gas worker in a van came next, assessing the scene and warning people to stay away from the immediate area around the leak. It was nearly 1 a.m. when a repair crew showed up, with the leak being stopped a half-hour later. The work resulted in gas service being lost at two houses, including mine. Service was restored Wednesday.

In November 2016, Washington Gas began a project in the 1500 block of 44^th Street to install high-pressure service, move meters from the inside of houses to the outside, and replace laterals from the street. Flexible, yellow plastic piping was used.

The gas lines share space under the street with water and sewer lines, with utility locations being marked for the project with painted dashes, yellowish for gas, blue for water and green for sewer.

Water lines were broken during the gas line project, requiring repairs by DC Water. Apparently, sewer lines also have been damaged.

In the wake of the gas line project, Michael & Son Services, Inc. conducted sewer line work involving a house on the east side of the street, according to Sewer and Water Division Assistant Manager Chris Gooding.

On Thursday evening, about 7:45, the DC Water crew finished replacing the lateral connecting to the house line and filled in the trench. A worker said that sediment can enter a broken sewer line and clog a house connection line.

The law, according to utility workers at the scene, makes damage to lines on private property the responsibility of homeowners. So, as one worker stated, even if you’re just digging a hole to plant flowers, you’re supposed to call “Miss Utility” to mark lines.

Some of the damage might easily be explained due to direct cause and effect. But no crews were at work Tuesday night prior to the gas leak. Something apparently happened spontaneously under the steel plates, which were cordoned off with caution cones.

Natural gas gets moved around the country in transmission pipes that range up to 42 inches in diameter and at pressures ranging up to 1,500 pounds per square inch, with reductions in the network as the gas makes its way to users, according to the American Gas Association’s website. A regulator at the house drops the pressure to a quarter-pound per square inch, described as less than that created by a child blowing bubbles with a straw in a glass of milk.

Asked about the cause of leak, gas company workers referred me to media relations people and provided a Washington Gas contact number, where a message I left was not returned. I did receive a generic robo-call on Thursday morning from the company, telling me that “it was not possible to complete the planned work as scheduled” and to “press one” to reschedule and “press two” if the work was no longer required. No work was specified.

GAS LEAK: Firefighters and Washington Gas workers survey the scene on Tuesday night (February 28, 2017) at 44th and P streets, in Foxhall Village, where the air was filled with the hiss of escaping gas and the sulfurous scent of mercaptan. Photo Credit: John A. Bray