Rt. 22 Re-Opens After Murrysville Gasoline Leak

Pipeline Break Investigated By Sunoco Logistics

POSTED: 9:44 am EST November 25, 2008
UPDATED: 8:24 am EST November 26, 2008

MURRYSVILLE, Pa. -- Residents and business owners in the area where an interstate gasoline transmission line ruptured were able to return home early Tuesday evening.

Video: Interstate Gas Line Ruptures, Forces Evacuations

Sunoco Logistics said a cracked valve caused a spray of gasoline on Tuesday morning that shut down a five-mile stretch of Route 22 from School Road to the Cozy Inn Cutoff and forced businesses and schools to evacuate.

Route 22 re-opened around 6:30 p.m. Tuesday. Residents who were evacuated from an assisted living facility have been allowed to return home. The gasoline odor is expected to linger for the next few days.

The broken line runs parallel to Route 22 in the 4000 block, behind the Walnut Hollow shopping center and Hoss's Steak and Sea House, where restaurant manager Margie McAndrew said it looked like the sky was raining gasoline.

"We saw it through the window. My other two employees also saw it through the window. They looked out and they could smell gasoline so they shut the door. And we just tried to make sure we turned off everything that we had. You know, pilot lights, anything that we had that was on. We evacuated the building, got out," McAndrew said.

"It was a high-pressure line, and when our crews arrived on scene, we had approximately 50 to 75 gallons a minute coming out of that line and we had to contain that. We now have an area on the Turtle Creek that's contaminated the whole way down, almost to Pleasant Valley Road, which is right by the Allegheny County border," Stevens said.

Spokesman Thomas Golembeski said Sunoco Logistics is still investigating what happened to the line, which is overseen by the U.S. Department of Transportation's Office of Pipeline Safety.

Department of Environmental Protection spokeswoman Helen Humphreys said a significant amount of gas -- more than 800 gallons -- leaked into Turtle Creek. Environmental officers report a tremendous fish kill in the creek.

"The impact is relatively significant on the aquatic life in Turtle Creek. The gas, when it left the pump, sprayed into the air, back down onto the pavement and into the stream almost immediately," Humphreys said.

Firefighters added foam to the creek and workers from a separate company will be brought in to clean it. Booms have been set up to stop the flow of gasoline before it gets 20 miles away to the intake at the Monongahela. According to workers at the scene, the wet, snowy weather actually caused the gasoline to travel more quickly downstream.

Channel 4 Action News reporter Jennifer Miele said that because of the leak into Turtle Creek, water supplies to nearby Export may be affected. The Pennsylvania American Water company has been notified of the leak as has the local sewage treatment company.

Schools, Businesses Evacuated

Electricity and gas service was shut off to all businesses near the rupture site because of the potential for a fire or explosion. Crews also put exhaust fans on manholes and checked are businesses for gasoline fumes.

Gas Line Rupture Forces School, Assisted Living Home Evacuations

After the rupture, the Franklin Regional School District moved two elementary schools into the high school gymnasium and auditorium. Then, winds shifted and chased more than 2,200 students out of the high school.

"There was a lot of gas smelling in the bottom floor," said middle school student Bethany Rebb.

"I was in Ms. Mayo's math class which is that room right there. And we opened the room for a second, closed it and it filled up the whole room with gas," said high school student Cody Locklin.

While students and parents exited Franklin Regional High School, the Sheetz gas station on Route 22 remained shut down, along with many other businesses along the highway.

About 140 residents and staff were evacuated from Redstone Highlands Murrysville Assisted Living Home on Cline Hollow Road. The residents were taken inside Alliance Christian Church about a mile away. No illnesses or injuries were reported among the elderly.

"It smelled like gasoline at a gas station. And it was getting stronger as the day went on," said Redstones Highlands administrator Vicki Loucks.

As the elderly filled up the church, many businesses poured out to keep them fed.

"Businesses in Murrysville and Monroeville have given us food, to help feed these people, water. And it's been a great community effort," said Pastor Myron Wattenphul.

Pipeline Company Investigating Leak

Sunoco Logistics -- which owns the gas line that ruptured -- is on the scene assessing the situation and trying to figure out what happened.

"We are still in the emergency response phase. So that was out number one priority, public safety. So as we get that info we will bring it forward," said Sunoco spokesman Mark Whalen.

The pipeline carries petroleum to and from refineries in Philadelphia and Toledo. It's one of 1,600 miles of Sunoco pipelines that serve the eastern region.

Crews were doing maintenance along the 8-inch line when a valve cracked, causing the spray of gasoline. The company is investigating what caused the valve to malfunction.

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