West Penn crew replacing pole hits Peoples natural gas line in New Kensington

A West Penn Power crew drilling to place a new utility pole struck a natural gas line along Tarentum Bridge Road on Monday, causing a leak.

Westmoreland County 911 said the incident was reported shortly after 8 a.m. It happened at the entrance to Riverview Plaza in front of Donut Connection.

No injuries were reported, West Penn Power spokesman Todd Meyers said.

A sign on the door at Donut Connection said it was closed Monday because the store would be without power all day for the pole replacement. It remained closed Tuesday morning, with a sign at the door saying it was because the gas was out.

Meyers said the pole was one of seven being replaced because of age. He could not say where the others are.

Crews for Peoples were at the scene after the gas line was struck. A Peoples door hanger left at Donut Connection said there had been “damage to mainline,” and that natural gas to the store was turned off for safety reasons.

Meyers said West Penn workers last week dug by hand in the area of the pole to make sure they would not run into any wires for the traffic signal at the intersection with Caldwell Avenue, which is across from the plaza entrance.

Meyers said the gas line was not marked. He said West Penn Power contacted the Pennsylvania One Call System and was told no other utilities were in the area.

Robin Johnson, compliance coordinator for Pennsylvania One Call, said he could not divulge if West Penn Power had contacted the system or how Peoples responded because they consider that proprietary information.

One Call does not mark underground lines itself or say if an area is clear, Johnson said.

In such a situation, Johnson said One Call takes the location information it receives, in this case from West Penn Power, and then sends it to involved parties, such as Peoples. Peoples would determine if it has lines in the area, mark them if they are present and respond through One Call’s automated system. One Call sends the response to West Penn Power.

A Peoples spokesman did not respond to requests Monday for comment.

Employees at the nearby First National Bank said they smelled natural gas outside, but not inside the bank. Its operations were not affected.

Employees at Ray Azteca and a Verizon store in Riverview Plaza said their businesses were not affected, and they had not smelled any natural gas.

The right lane of Tarentum Bridge Road heading toward Tarentum was closed for the pole replacement, as was the main entrance and exit to the plaza.

Meyers said work on the new pole was suspended until the gas line could be repaired. He could not say when it would be rescheduled.

The pole replacement is being done as part of a $150 million long-term infrastructure improvement program, Meyers said.