Natural gas leak shuts down major Sandy intersection

An early Friday morning natural gas leak forced closure of the heavily-traveled 90th South and State Street corridor for several hours and forced evacuation of a dozen businesses and four residences.

Sandy police Sgt. Jon Arnold said no injuries were reported, but roads leading into the intersection were blocked off while Questar Gas crews worked to shut off the leak and make repairs.

Questar spokesman Darren Shepherd said a contractor was boring holes at the intersection about 2:30 a.m. when workers struck and ruptured 2-inch, high-pressure gas line.

"We lifted drain covers off around the leak site to help dissipate the gas and plan to cut through the asphalt on opposite sides of the bore hole to get to the damage and shut off the flow," Shepherd said.

That task was completed by 7:40 a.m. Once Questar and public safety officials confirmed gas levels were safe about 8:15 a.m., restrictions on traffic were reduced to just a couple lanes and evacuees were allowed to return to their homes and businesses.

Shepherd said Questar crews likely would have the line completely repaired by early afternoon.

A nursing home located about a block east of the scene was not been evacuated. Police and firefighters allowed staff to come and go as needed through road barricades, Arnold said.

Also operating through the incident was the TRAX light rail station, located about two block to the east.

remims@sltrib.com

Twitter: @remims