Leaking Gas Pipe Sickens Family

Jenn Rennie and her family thought they had mistakenly left a stove burner on when they smelled natural gas in their Bridgeville apartment last month.

But after the smell persisted and became stronger, Rennie’s young daughter began feeling ill and the family knew something much worse was happening.

When the gas company came to investigate the problem at 306 Church St., technicians found that natural gas was leaking from seven cracks in the piping and poisoning the family of four. They had to leave their apartment for a week while the leaks were repaired.

“I don’t know how it all happened at once,” Rennie said.

Rennie relayed that story during to persuade Bridgeville officials to mandate periodic home inspections for rental properties. She said that most landlords in the borough take care of their properties, but inspections still should be done to find any potential problems.

“A little bit of money is scaring them away,” Rennie said. “But what is the price of four lives?”

Council previously discussed the issue a couple of years ago, but could not come to an agreement. It remains to be seen if Rennie’s story will prompt borough officials to take up the issue again.

“Are we still working on this or did we bury it?” Councilman Joseph Colosimo said during the meeting. “We went through this before. There are many communities that have inspection rules. We don’t.”

Council President Nino Petrocelli said they might discuss the topic again, but he would not consider any changes unless they garnered the feedback from both the residents and landlords.

“There needs to be some compromise that is good for everyone,” Petrocelli said. “It needs to be discussed.”

Also during the meeting…

-Petrocelli and Councilman Bill Colussy got into a heated exchange about whether to use professional contractors or the borough’s workers to repave the portion of McMillen Street that leads to the new library. Colussy said he thought the borough should try to save money and that “we got to use our own men here.” Petrocelli answered that the work would be too extensive to use the public works department and was backed by borough engineer Joe Sites. “It would be a disaster,” Sites said. The council ultimately voted to advertise bids to find a contractor to do the work.

-The Bridgeville Athletic Association announced at the meeting that it is still accepting last-minute registrations for youth baseball and softball. To sign up, go to www.bridgevilleball.com, fill out the registration form and mail to the athletic committee. The association is also still looking for sponsors and advertisers.

-There will be a blood drive Sunday from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the .