An underground leak in a high-pressure natural-gas pipeline supplying 150,000 south-metro Denver homes forced evacuations of about 175 people.
“You want to plan for the worst-case scenario, which is a pipe blowing,” said Mark Stutz, a spokesman for Xcel Energy Inc.
Hazmat crews were monitoring gas levels in the air. Saturday’s readings indicated no danger, Stutz said.
Xcel called in a crew of specialists from T.D. Williamson Inc. of Tulsa, Okla., to find and fix the leak.
Faced with frigid temperatures, Xcel officials said they would not shut off the pipeline, but would instead install a new pipe bypassing the 500-foot section where they think the leak is located.
The bypass would keep gas flowing to all customers, Xcel officials said.
If the pipeline had to be shut, up to 20,000 homes in Highlands Ranch and the southwest foothills could be without heat, Xcel officials said.
The temperature was zero degrees Fahrenheit at 2 p.m. Saturday at Buckley Air Force Base and dropped to minus 4 degrees at 6 p.m., according to the National Weather Service.
Today’s high temperature is expected to reach 9 degrees, with snow likely. Monday is expected to warm up with highs near 19 degrees.
The pipeline runs 12 feet under the frozen ground. Xcel crews tried digging down to find the leak but stopped for safety reasons as sour-smelling gas hissed into the air.
The leak is located in Highlands Ranch, south of C-470 and east of Fairview Parkway, along a hillside just south of Cherry Hills Community Church.
Xcel crews completed federally mandated checks on the pipeline twice last year, and these “showed no corrosion,” Xcel vice president for construction Riley Hill told evacuees at a community meeting.
Repair crews said they suspected the steel pipe sprung a leak near where 4-inch diameter pipe connects with a 24-inch pipe, Hill said.
Highlands Ranch residents began calling Xcel about 3 p.m. Thursday afternoon saying they smelled gas.
Sheriff’s deputies began knocking on doors Friday night, ordering mandatory evacuations of 61 homes as a precaution.
A few more families were evacuated Saturday, Xcel’s Stutz said.
Evacuees were staying with friends or at south-metro hotels at Xcel’s expense. Xcel also offered $70 a person a day for living expenses.
Xcel community relations chief Tom Ashburn told evacuees they’ll probably be out of their homes through Monday.
“I think my family can eat on $490 a day,” said Diane Eto, a mother of five, including a 3-month-old girl.
“They evacuated us, so we’re all safe now,” Eto said. “I trust them. They made accommodations, very comfortable. The comforted my mind.”
Some residents attended the Saturday meeting even though they hadn’t been evacuated. “We’re mainly concerned with: Are we going to have another leak?” said Danny Furst, 68.
The bypass should be completed by tonight, Xcel officials said.
Staff writer Bruce Finley can be reached at 303-954-1700 or bfinley@denverpost.com.
