Natural gas nearly restored for all Northwest Dallas homes
Nearly a month after a deadly house explosion and the natural gas emergency in Northwest Dallas that followed, Atmos Energy says it has completed most of the repair work.
Atmos says it's on schedule to replace natural gas mains and service lines in neighborhoods near Walnut Hill and Marsh lanes.
The company started the work the week after a suspected gas leak caused an explosion at a home on February 23, killing 12-year-old Linda "Michellita" Rogers. Two other homes were damaged the week before. It led to the evacuation of thousands of people in Northwest Dallas.
Atmos Energy says it is 86 percent finished with replacing gas mains and services to more than 2800 homes that had to be evacuated because of gas leaks.
On any given block, it's hit or miss who has gas service and who's still waiting for it. Atmos crews are working 24/7 to replace 2 1/2 miles of piping in the neighborhoods.
Neil Minton has not had gas service since March 1 at his home. He is hoping to get it back soon.
"I'm very pleased. They ran a whole new line all the way under the lawn and didn't even take a trench for that, and the new meter will be here,” Minton said. “And I actually ran new lines under the house to this point, and I'm just waiting on administer come and put a new meter back in.”
Minton says he has not been able to lease his property because it did not have gas service.
Atmos says it was an unprecedented number of factors that caused the leaks.
The area is on a fault line with and different combinations soil and shale and extremely heavy rainfall in February, Atmos says, are contributing factors.