UPDATED: Gas Leak Shuts Down Buford Hwy-Duluth Hwy Intersection

Updated

Traffic was being detoured away from a busy Gwinnett County intersection due to a ruptured gas Monday afternoon, and it looked as though it would take a while before things could be opened back up.

Gwinnett Fire said via news alerts Monday that an electrical utility crew struck a 4-inch steel high-pressure gas main while digging near the roadway at the intersection of Buford Highway and Duluth Highway in downtown Duluth around 1:30 p.m.

The scene was still active as of 8:30 p.m., Gwinnett Fire Capt. Tommy Rutledge said in an email sent shortly before 9 p.m. Duluth Police officers were continuing to divert traffic away from the area.

The incident forced the evacuations of four businesses and a strip shopping center. No injuries have been reported.

Rutledge said an emergency crew from Atlanta Gas Light has been at the scene into the night, trying to find and stop the leak. Their work has included withstanding a heavy rainstorm in the early evening.

“Gas company workers had to pump rain water out of the hole before continuing their efforts to clamp the line,” Rutledge said. “They also had to deploy a trench-box due to the depth of the hole in order to make the operation safe for workers. The work is compounded because the gas company is having to dig in two separate locations to stop the leak.”

Rutledge said firefighters have a hose line on the ground to protect gas company workers and are monitoring gas readings in the “hot zone” perimeter.

Gwinnett County Public Schools said on Facebook that school buses for Duluth High, Duluth Middle and B.B. Harris Elementary were delayed for a time because of the leak. Rutledge said the buses were able to use alternate routes to take students home.

Due to the close proximity to the railroad tracks, Norfolk Southern was notified of the leak. The company sent a representative to evaluate the scene; no rail traffic was disrupted, Rutledge said.

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Photo: Gwinnett Fire PIO