Columbia Gas has most Donora customers back in service
DONORA – Columbia Gas of Pa. reported significant progress restoring service to Donora Monday, two days after a mistake required the company to shut off 1,700 meters in the borough.
The company said service had been restored to 85 percent of those customers as of 8:30 a.m., and that it was reaching out to others to get technicians to their homes.
“To help us quickly and safely complete restoration, we will need to enter every affected home or business, so an adult must be present to allow our employees to restore service,” Columbia stated in a news release.
A contractor working for the gas company in Donora inadvertently allowed air to enter the system, requiring it to be shut down in the borough Saturday morning. The remaining gas in the lines needed to be purged before the system could be restored.
The company set up three warming centers that went unused during the gas outage.
It also sent more than 100 employees, some from as far away as Ohio and Virginia, to Donora to go door to door to turn the gas on and relight appliances, company spokesman Lee Gierczynski said.
Anyone with questions about service restoration should call 1-888-460-4332.