Construction crew accidentally causes a pipeline leak shutting down the area at N. Territorial and Webster Church roads.

It was just around 12:22 p.m. on April 18, when the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office alert went out: Avoid the area of North Territorial near Webster Church in Webster Twp road closed due to a traffic incident.

The Sun Times News followed up with Dexter Area Fire Department Fire Chief Doug Armstrong about the incident.

Armstrong said construction crews working at the N. Territorial and Webster Church project area struck a 2 inch, 60 psi natural gas pipe line about 150 feet west of the intersection causing a leak.

“The force of the initial leak knocked a couple of construction workers down but did not cause any injuries,” Armstrong said. “The gas line could be heard hissing from several hundred yards away.”

The WCSO sent out another alert around 1:41 p.m. saying “The incident at North Territorial near Scully Rd in Webster Twp now has road closed due to a traffic incident.”

Armstrong said DAFD responded to the scene.

“C.J.’s Party Store was evacuated and closed and North Territorial Road was immediately closed down between Scully Road and Lori Lynne Lane, and MichCon emergency repair crew was called to the scene,” he said. “Gas monitoring in the area did not show any detectable levels of gas in the air due to the strong winds.”

The repair was expected to take 3-4 hours and the road was to remain closed until the work was completed.