UPDATE: Feb. 20, 9:00 a.m.: The city of Laurel’s public information officer tweeted as of 7:53 a.m., 289 customer had their gas service restored. Most customers should have their service restored by Tuesday evening, with some “isolated cases” taking a few more days, she said.
WASHINGTON — A gas outage in Laurel, Maryland, entered its fifth day Monday with nearly 400 customers still without service.
The city’s public information officer tweeted that about 380 Baltimore Gas and Electric customers were still without gas service Monday morning after a water main break Feb. 15 damaged the underground gas main.
About 44 customers had their service restored shortly before 10 a.m. Monday, according to the tweet from Audrey Barnes, the city of Laurel’s PIO.
In a follow-up tweet sent about 3 p.m., Barnes said BGE had made repairs to more than half of the damaged gas mains.She said most customers could expect to have their service restored — or have gas available to them — by Tuesday evening.
“Some isolated customers may be not be restored until later this (week),” Barnes tweeted.
The outage is affecting multiple blocks in Laurel. At the height of the outages, about 424 customers were without gas service.
BGE crews were working 24 hours to restore service, the utility said in a statement posted to Twitter. Crews had to clean the gas main and then go door-to-door to restore gas up to the meter and to ensure that water hadn’t gotten into each resident’s lines and appliances.
BGE held an open house at the Laurel Municipal Center on Sunday afternoon. A company spokesman said 230 workers are working in shifts to restore service. The spokesman, Aaron Koos, said the gas main was damaged by water, mud and debris and had to be partially replaced.
Laurel Mayor Craig Moe opened the Robert DiPetro Community Center at 701 Cypress Street in Laurel to affected customers to take showers.
