Feet away from Larry Jefferies’ front door, you can hear the sound of gas flowing through an exposed pipe.
“I was told they were going to come out, bury it and everything would be good,” he told 41 Action News.
That was more than six months ago.
For a year, Jefferies said he has been trying to contact Missouri Gas Energy about a gas pipeline in front of his home. The company first installed the line in April 2015 and replaced in December 2016.
“It’s 50 feet away from my house. My 9-year-old daughter sleeps there every night. I’m concerned. I don’t want another incident like the Plaza happening in my own front yard,” he said.
His biggest concerns include a car coming off the road and hitting the pipeline.
“We've had several cars go off the road right there. There's no curb,” he said. “You go to bed every night and you pray when you hear someone going down the street that they don't go off the road and hit this pipe.”
41 Action News investigates
41 Action News contacted MGE about the pipeline. In an emailed statement, a company spokeswoman said it was placed as a temporary solution after neighbors experienced outages and maintained “the temporary solution is safe and reliable.”
According to the email, the company is currently testing the permanent pipelines to “ensure these above ground lines are not needed” and will remove them. If the permanent solution is not in place in the next few days, MGE said they will cordon off the area for Jefferies.
Here's the statement:
The pipeline near Mr. Jefferies’ yard were placed temporarily after neighbors experienced outages. The temporary solution is safe and reliable and was installed to ensure that customers in the area continued to receive gas service while we worked on a permanent solution. Our final step—which is underway now—is testing the permanent pipelines to ensure these above ground lines are not needed and then remove them. While this temporary line is safe and a barricade is not necessary, we’ll be happy to cordon off the area for Mr. Jefferies if the permanent solution isn’t in place in the next few days.
Please know that there are several layers of safety precautions for all temporary pipelines. Pipes like this have two emergency safety valves that can be used to shut off the flow of gas. And, if by chance the safety valve doesn’t function, the gas would vent into the atmosphere which is also safe.
Safety precautions
MGE said there are several layers of safety precautions for all temporary pipelines.
For example, they have two emergency safety valves that can be used to shut off the flow of gas. If the safety valve does not function, “The gas would vent into the atmosphere which is also safe.”
The company said a barricade system is used to protect their property from damage. The same safety precautions apply.
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Ariel Rothfield can be reached at Ariel.Rothfield@KSHB.com.
