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Ethane leak forces station shutdown

3 min read
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The Williams pipeline meter station in Chartiers Township will remain offline indefinitely as the company works to determine what caused Wednesday night’s ethane leak that forced the evacuation of at least a dozen nearby homes.

The release from the Ohio Valley Ethane Pipeline’s meter station at 988 Western Ave. was reported about 6:15 p.m. and is the second time in less than two months the facility encountered an issue after a fire erupted there Dec. 24.

“We are in the process of an incident investigation and the site will remain shut (down) until it is determined to be fit for service and safe operation,” Williams spokeswoman Sara Delgado said by email Thursday.

Firefighters from both Chartiers and Mt. Pleasant responded to the leak and were assisted at the scene by the company’s pipeline control team. The company closed the main line valve to the meter station and residual ethane in the system dissipated without further incident, Delgado said.

Eleven homes on Ullom Road and Western Avenue in Chartiers, and several more in the Mt. Pleasant neighborhood near Hornhead Road, were evacuated during the situation, emergency responders said. Western Avenue was closed for several hours and residents returned to their homes about 9:30 p.m., Delgado said. No fire was reported and emergency responders said no one was injured.

The second evacuation in less than two months did not sit well with nearby residents who say they’re concerned about their health and safety, along with what the incidents are doing to their property values. Scott Teagarden, who has lived on Ullom Road for 17 years, wasn’t at home during the evacuation but is aggravated by string of incidents in recent years.

“There’s no doubt we’re in an industrial area. I’m tired of this evacuation crap,” Teagarden said. “Not only are we getting evacuated, what’s it doing to my property value? This whole thing over the last 19 months has caused me all grief without any compensation.

“Who wants to move into my neighborhood?”

The recent situations at the Williams meter station and two other incidents at the nearby MarkWest processing plant, including a major evacuation following a fire caused by a lightning strike there last May, are pushing the residents’ patience to the limit, Teagarden said. He added he did not receive a notification on his cellphone about the evacuations as residents were previously told would happen.

“To me, it’s ridiculous,” Teagarden said. “This isn’t the first time.”

Chartiers Township Manager Jodi Noble said emergency responders knocked on the doors to alert residents living at the four homes on Ullom Road. She said township officials will meet with emergency responders and company’s workers to discuss how to prevent a similar situation and whether anything can be done to improve the response.

“I think any time there is a malfunction or event we certainly have a reason to be concerned,” Noble said.

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