Gas Main

IT HAS LONG BEEN MY contention that spectacular urban upheaval -- a fire or some sprawling accident -- is a occasion not only for gawking but also for learning something about the character of a place.Baltimore witnessed just such an event last weekend when a huge sinkhole opened at Park Avenue and Franklin Street, leading to a gas main explosion that shook Mount Vernon out of a damp November morning's sleep.In the course of covering this story, I could not help but notice some of the hallmarks of human behavior, Baltimore style.

Construction workers grading a parking lot in Maryland City accidentally ruptured a six-inch gas main yesterday, forcing emergency workers to shut down Route 198 during the morning rush hour and evacuate about 30 people from a hotel and nearby townhouses.Anne Arundel County police closed Route 198 from Whiskey Bottom Road to Russett Green West and rerouted traffic around the gas leak onto local streets, causing delays of 2 1/2 hours.Three children at Maryland City Elementary School were treated for minor ailments -- a stomachache, a nosebleed and asthma -- that might have been related to the gas fumes, said Capt.

A natural gas explosion ripped apart a vacant Westminster house yesterday afternoon, severely damaging dozens of neighboring homes and spreading debris more than a mile away.No one was injured, officials said.Nearly 100 families were evacuated after the 1:18 p.m. blast, and at least 50 homes were damaged -- 20 of them seriously enough to be declared uninhabitable by county housing inspectors.Residents were not allowed to return to their homes last night.The Autumn Ridge neighborhood was strewn with garage doors, shattered windows, ripped insulation and aluminum siding, while all that was left of the house at 90 Sunshine Way was a smoldering pile of wood, brick and aluminum.

His neighbors in Oklahoma Estates often jog, bike or walk by Sam Gertz's home at the end of Monroe Avenue.They usually wave. Lately, though, they are shouting the same question as they pass his door."

BGE workers fixed the ruptured gas main yesterday that caused dowtown street closures and rush-hour traffic tie-ups but have yet to determine the exact cause of the leaks. "We don't know what, if anything, we will be able to determine conclusively," Linda Foy, a spokeswoman for BGE, said yesterday. Workers completed repairs about 3 p.m. yesterday. Charles Street at Pratt and Lombard streets was reopened at 3:30 p.m., in time for the evening rush hour. The streets were closed Thursday during afternoon and evening rush hour after gas leaks sent two manhole covers into the air. Metal plates were placed over the areas where the repairs were made, and the area will be repaved this weekend, a spokesman for the Department of Transportation said.

A gas main break near Overlea High School closed Kenwood Avenue Wednesday afternoon and forced 10 homes to be evacuated, Baltimore County police said. BGE stopped the gas leak at Kenwood and East avenues, around 3 p.m. and officials said Kenwood Avenue was expected to reopen Wednesday afternoon. No injuries were reported. Separately, BGE said Wednesday that it was upgrading natural gas mains in 10 Baltimore-area neighborhoods and will start six additional projects next year.

Around 10 a.m. Thursday an Amtrak contractor struck a 24-inch gas main on the property of Penn Station in Baltimore, a utility spokeswoman said. Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. responded to the scene and were continuing work on shutting off the gas line at around 2 p.m., said Rachael Lighty. Only buildings on the Penn Station property are expected to lose gas service because of the leak, she said, but BGE is having employees canvass the area to ensure no residential gas users have lost service.

Baltimore Gas and Electric crews have repaired a gas main break in Severna Park, and are in the process of restoring service to homes that lost gas Thursday morning, a BGE spokeswoman said. Crews repaired damage to a 2 inch gas main on Whites Road, in the Cattail Creek neighborhood, which appears to have been caused by a contractor striking a gas line, said BGE spokeswoman Linda Foy. Two customers lost gas this afternoon, and were due to have it restored once BGE workers could access the homes, she said.

Renee Washington says she's not asking for special treatment from City Hall. The 58-year-old paraplegic just wants to make sure she and her neighbors are reimbursed for the stoves and water heaters damaged during a Valentine's Day gas main break that caused water to rush into their appliances. "We want to make hot meals for our families," says Washington, a resident of the Southwest Baltimore neighborhood of Mill Hill, who is attempting to organize her neighbors to action. "We want to take hot showers and baths.

Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. workers reported finding hundreds more homes in Overlea affected by Saturday's dual water and gas main breaks, while angry residents demanded answers last night about who would pay for the damage and when gas service would resume. Some of the nearly 200 residents attending an emergency community meeting at Fullerton Elementary School shouted, "Class action lawsuit!" when a representative from the Baltimore Department of Public Works tried to speak. "We don't know right now who's responsible," said DPW spokesman Kurt L. Kocher.