A natural gas leak prompted a roughly four-hour road closure on a section of Northeast 78th Street in Hazel Dell on Monday morning.
The section of road, east of Highway 99 between Northeast 13th and 16th avenues, reopened around 12:30 p.m.
Fire District 6 spokesman Dave Schmitke said in a video posted to Facebook that the street had to be blocked off after an excavator that was digging a trench in the median of the street accidentally punctured a natural gas line around 8 a.m.
“We have a major gas leak,” Schmitke said in the video.
Nutter Corp. is six weeks into a five-month, $2.6 million contract to install 2,500 feet of new gravity sewers on Northeast 78th Street running east from Northeast 13th Street, according to the project owner, the Clark Regional Wastewater District. The new pipes are replacing an old line and adding capacity, according to a district news release.
NW Natural public information officer Daphne Mathew said 280 NW Natural customers had their gas shut off because of the leak.
There were no injuries related to the accident. Although there are people living in the area, including apartment complexes and a mobile home park, no one had to be evacuated.
Mathew said people should call 811 before digging for a project to ensure all utilities such as gas lines have been located. If it starts to smell like natural gas, leave the area and call for help.
The sewer project is due to wrap up in October.
