Columbia Gas restoring natural gas supplies in Donora
DONORA – Columbia Gas of Pennsylvania expects to have service restored to most of its customers in Donora this morning, two days after natural gas meters were shut off for 1,700 customers.
Scott Beveridge
Natural gas workers attempt to find the owner of a building on McKean Avenue to restore Columbia Gas of Pa. service Sunday.
The company finished turning off the meters at 11 a.m. Sunday, when at least 100 employees had spread out to restore service to the Mon Valley borough, company spokesman Lee Gierczynski said.
The company also established three warming centers, but no one chose to visit one of them, he said.
“I think a lot of people would rather stay in their homes,” Gierczynski said.
The company was going door-to-door to the turn the meters back on and light natural gas appliances, according to a statement on its website.
A contractor working for Columbia Gas allowed air to enter into the pipelines, requiring the company to disrupt services. The process to restore services did not pose any threats to the borough, the company said.
“We had to purge out the residual gas to restart the system,” Gierczynski said.
Three warming centers remained open for residents who need them. They are located at the borough building, 603 Meldon Ave.; Carroll Township Volunteer Fire Department Social Hall, 130 Baird Ave., and Carroll Township Volunteer Fire Department, 988 Route 837.
Anyone needing transportation to a center should call 724-379-6600.
People in areas where service has not been restored were asked to keep their porch lights on. For customers who are not home during the service restoration process, door hangers will be left there informing them of the outage and requesting that they call Columbia Gas at 1-888-460-4332 for a service technician to be dispatched to restore service to their homes.
An adult also must be present for the gas company to enter a dwelling.