Gas Line

Traffic was snarled around Annapolis yesterday after a construction crew accidentally severed a natural-gas line just south of the busy interchange of Solomons Island Road and Aris T. Allen Boulevard, Anne Arundel fire officials said. The backup began about 8:25 a.m. when workers from Schummer Inc., an Edgewater utility company, cut through the plastic pipe while installing a water line along Solomons Island Road near Grand Oak Drive, said Capt. Lee Cornwell, spokesman for the county Fire Department.

Traffic was snarled around Annapolis yesterday after a construction crew accidentally severed a natural-gas line just south of the busy interchange of Solomons Island Road and Aris T. Allen Boulevard, Anne Arundel fire officials said. The backup began around 8:25 a.m. when workers from Schummer Inc., an Edgewater utility company, cut through the plastic pipe while installing a water line along Solomons Island Road near Grand Oak Drive, said Capt. Lee Cornwell, spokesman for the county Fire Department.

The number of homes and businesses affected by a combination water-main break and leaking gas line in Overlea grew to 1,600 yesterday after officials with Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. discovered that water had gotten into a gas main along Belair Road. Water was restored to about 210 homes and 13 businesses late Saturday, hours after the dual breaks, which caused several furnace fires on Cardwell Avenue, were discovered. But restoring gas has been much more difficult, said BGE spokeswoman Linda Foy. Utility workers initially found water in a damaged 6-inch gas line on Cardwell Avenue.

The number of homes and businesses affected by a combination water-main break and leaking gas line in Overlea grew to 1,600 yesterday after officials with Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. discovered that water had gotten into a gas main along Belair Road. The problem prompted the Baltimore County school system to announce the closing today of two area elementary schools - Fullerton and Elmwood. Water was restored to about 210 homes and 13 businesses late Saturday, hours after the dual breaks, which caused several furnace fires on Cardwell Avenue, were discovered.

A water main break yesterday sent muddy water bubbling into the streets of Overlea, while a leaking gas line and two furnace fires prompted residents to scurry from their homes. No one was injured, but at least 210 homes and 13 businesses lost water as authorities shut off the water main for repairs, said a city public works spokesman. The spokesman, Kurt L. Kocher, said water service had been restored about 8:30 p.m. Gas was also shut off in at least 400 homes, according to the Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. Officials were searching for the cause of the breaks in the water and gas lines.

A cable television work crew broke an underground natural gas line yesterday evening, producing flames that threatened a nearby house and several cars and prompting the Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. to cut off gas and electrical service in the neighborhood, authorities said. About 6 p.m., officials said, a Comcast crew was working in the 2100 block of Sugarcone Road in the Summit Chase area of Pikesville when a piece of equipment broke the gas line. Flames fueled by leaking gas reached about 20 feet in the air, and the fire was left to burn for several hours until BGE workers could shut off the gas flow.

Baltimore County police are warning drivers that they may encounter rush-hour delays -- and possibly road closures -- this evening on Padonia Road between York Road and Beaver Dam Road in Timonium. Baltimore Gas & Electric Co. crews are investigating a possible gas line leak in the 200 block of Padonia Road, near Interstate 83, and anticipate that their work will continue through this evening, police said. Originally published April 29, 2004, 2:32 PM EDT

A gas leak at Baltimore-Washington International Airport tied up vehicle traffic yesterday afternoon and prompted the temporary evacuation of three piers, airport officials said. Construction crews were working on part of the airport's $1.8 billion expansion about 11:30 a.m. when they ruptured a gas line on the lower level outside the main terminal, said Cheryl Stewart, a spokeswoman for BWI.

About two dozen employees were briefly evacuated yesterday afternoon at the Springfield Hospital Center property near Sykesville after a contractor struck a gas line to a barn under construction, according to Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. and Carroll County fire officials. A 1 1/4 -inch service line to the unoccupied building was struck about 1:20 p.m. by one of the contractors working at the site, which was not part of the hospital complex, said Linda Foy, a spokeswoman for BGE. The workers left the area while a BGE crew secured the leak and shut off the line.

Repair work on a natural gas line shut down a stretch of Light Street near the Inner Harbor yesterday afternoon, snarling traffic during the busy Friday rush hour and threatening to disrupt downtown travel through the weekend. Authorities said Light Street between Conway Street and Key Highway could remain closed until tomorrow as crews with Baltimore Gas and Electric worked to repair a pipe connected to a major gas main near the Maryland Science Center. But a BGE spokeswoman said last night that officials hoped to complete the repairs overnight and reopen the street early today.