ST. LOUIS, Missouri (First Alert 4) – On Tuesday, First Alert 4 reported that emergency crews in Kirkwood encountered gas lines that caused leaks three times in the past few weeks.
This happened at Big Bend near Kirkwood Road. The most recent incident occurred yesterday. The City of Kirkwood hired contractors to work on a water main project. The workers assigned to the project hit unmarked Spire gas lines.
Philip Ivie lives in the neighborhood behind Big Bend and said every time something like this happens, there is a traffic jam.
“All three streets were really congested for hours and we didn’t know what was going on,” Ivie said. “When you have 50 cars of traffic on that small street, it becomes a problem when you have to get in and out and do your day-to-day things.”
The affected gas pipelines are no longer in operation.
“I can understand one,” said Ivie. “Two is a mistake. But three.”
Craig Hoeferlin of Spire said that if a household or business decides over time that it no longer needs gas, the lines would be disconnected from the meter but would remain in place.
“Many of these lines could have been taken out of service 40, 50 or 100 years ago. So it’s possible that something wasn’t documented or discovered at the time. But in 99.9 percent of cases they are marked and correctly,” said Hoeferlin.
Hoeferlin said this happened three times within a matter of weeks, which is extremely unusual, especially since these lines were not recorded in writing.
“There aren’t many,” Hoeferlin said. “When we remove them, we take them out for the most part. From time to time, it might pop up.”
Every time this happens, it is very inconvenient for drivers and residents, Ivie said.
“If you head toward I-44, it will take a couple of hours to get back home, and that’s usually a 3-minute drive,” Hoeferlin said.
Hoeferlin said Spire met with Kirkwood leadership on Wednesday and will meet with them again on Thursday to make sure this does not continue to happen.
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