Spring Break
Oops! Backhoe breaks gas pipeline
Christopher Shaver
Issue date: 4/2/08 Section: Campus News
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According to multiple sources, contractors from Boiling Springs Cement hit a natural gas pipeline at 12:30 p.m. while digging to pour a concrete footing for new parking spaces for caf employees.
University Police Chief Barry Johnson said he found out about the incident within the first five minutes of the leak, evacuated the Decker residents evacuate and called the Boiling Springs City Fire Department.
"Anytime someone is digging, you have the potential for the backhoe and a gas line to hit," Johnson said. "It's been about five years since the last time we've had a leak."
David Wacaster, Gardner-Webb's director of occupational and environmental safety, said the university went through all the proper steps to find every gas line on campus before construction.
"We knew there was a 2-inch gas line, but it was running in the opposite direction to where we were working. We hit a secondary line that we didn't know about," Wacaster said.
Residents were evacuated onto the quad from 12:35 until 12:47 to ensure their safety. Lacey Jaye Souther said there were about 30 other students standing with her. Souther had just gotten out of the shower when the fire alarm sounded.
She expressed frustration because she was also in the middle of finishing her New Testament homework.
"I didn't know anything that was going on. I just knew it smelled funny," Souther said. "There were rumors there was a gas leak. Then we saw the maintenance workers beside Decker, so we figured it out."
Wacaster said the contractors were also working on building a secondary container for the cafeteria's kitchen waste oil. He said he wanted to take to add additional parking spaces while they were working in the area.
"We're hoping to have it all finished by next week," he said. "Hopefully we won't run into anymore delays."