Update 8:30 p.m.
The gas leak that occurred on 18th Street Thursday afternoon on the north side of Junction City has been repaired.
Junction City Public Works Director Ray Ibarra confirmed repairs were finished about 7 p.m.
Ibarra reported that a contractor doing a sewer clean for the City on 18th between Jackson and Jefferson Streets hit a gas line while cleaning the sewer line. The gas line had been bored through the sewer line. Kansas Gas Service was called to the scene. “We also had the Fire Department out there because of the gas pipe that was spewing the gas.” The gas was then shut off. “They pulled that line out of our line, and they went and bored another line to Domino’s, is I believe the gas line that was serving there.” The line went from Domino’s underneath the city street to the curb on the other side of the roadway.
There were no injuries reported in this incident.
Update 1:50 p.m.
Geary County Emergency Management Director Garry Berges is reporting that eastbound traffic on 18th street between Jackson and Washington Streets is still being detoured following a gas leak in that area. “Anybody going westbound from Washington to Jackson Street, we’re just getting ready to open that up. What it looks like, the City had contracted with a cleaning crew to clean out the main sewer line. The machine they were using somehow struck a gas line that was inside the sewer line, or whatever, which was right across from Dominos Pizza, causing the gas leak and causing us to shut down this area.”
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A gas leak was reported just after one p.m. Thursday on the north side of Junction City.
Geary County Emergency Management Director Garry Berges said it involved a contractor working in the area on 18th street between Washington and Jackson Street, “hit a pipeline, a gas line, or something. We’ve got a strong odor of gas in the area. We’ve got 18th Street shut off all the way from Jackson down to Washington Street.”
No injuries have been reported.
Berges added officials need the public to remain out of the area and let emergency responders and gas company personnel take their necessary actions.
No one has been evacuated, said Berges. “Right now we’re not evacuating people. We’re just keeping out of the area by driving through.”