A potentially serious gas leak led to the evacuation of the Towers after midnight last Thursday.
A car allegedly hit a gas meter located at the rear of Dickey Hall, dislodging one of the pipes that feeds natural gas to the Towers’ clothes dryers. A gas company official said he isn’t sure how much gas seeped into the air in the Towers, one of the Gorham campus’ most populous dorm, but said there was potential harm to students.
“Natural gas is a non-toxic, you can ingest it and breathe it and it won’t harm you,” said Gary Kenny, manager of engineering and operation for Maine Natural Gas. “But since it is a gas, it can displace oxygen. So if you’re in an enclosed environment it could work as an asphyxiant.”
A student on the second floor of Dickey Hall contacted a resident adviser shortly after midnight on Thursday morning to report a strong smell of gas in her room.
The RA called the USM Police immediately and was instructed to evacuate Dickey Hall. Shortly after, a resident director decided to evacuate Wood Hall as well.
The Gorham Fire Department quickly arrived on the scene and reported there were “explosive concentrations of gas in some areas,” according to Kenny.
University officials feared that an electrical vault, located directly next to the gas meter, could cause the buildings to explode.
“Had there been a spark in the electrical vault there could have been [an explosion],” said Dave Early, executive director of Facilities Management. “It’s high voltage power. Sparks aren’t that common in there, but it’s very important to keep the door shut in case.”
The locked cover to the electrical vault was opened by emergency officials who responded to the scene, according to Early.
Police are investigating who is responsible for hitting the gas meter.
“It sounds like somebody tried to pull up on the lawn and squeeze in there and in the process they hit the meter and the box,” said Early. “The closest parking spot is about 35 feet away. I don’t know what business a car had being there.”
The evacuation of the Towers took between one and two hours according to Jose Lord, a sophomore resident of Wood Hall.
After the incident two red metal poles were positioned in front of the gas meter to prevent similar incidents in the future.
“Most meters have some sort of protection,” said Kenny. “But since this one is so far away from where cars should be, there wasn’t one . the thing in hindsight that could have been done differently was to have more protection for that meter.”
Kenny said gas leaks are relatively common in the natural gas industry. The last evacuation of a Gorham dorm took place in September of 2000. Kenny said students smelled gas in a dorm, even though gas had been released a week or so before students moved into the dorms.
“The odor is so pungent it tends to linger longer than the gas itself,” said Kenny. He said natural gas actually has no smell, but a chemical is added to help people recognize when it is present.
Early said he hopes students will learn from the incident and stop parking in unauthorized areas.
“One of our primary concerns is that we try to get the word out there’s no parking there because of all the utilities.”
Contributing writer Lindsay Quinn contributed to this article.
Executive Editor Steve Peoples can be contacted at: [email protected]