Gas leak in DC prompts evacuations and Metro delays

A gas leak near the Washington, D.C., Navy Yard Metro station Thursday afternoon shut down a portion of the transit system’s Green Line and forced the evacuation of some nearby high-rise buildings, according to WTOP.

“What we found when we arrived is that a construction crew had breached a high-pressure gas line,” Vito Maggiolo, public information officer for D.C. Fire and EMS Department, told the news network earlier in the afternoon. “Right now, we’re being told it’s 4 inches in diameter, and we had gas flowing freely.”

{mosads}Officials attributed the leak, as well as the evacuations of several local high-rise buildings, to a “large outside gas line breach” in the 1200 block of Half Street Southeast, adding that the safety perimeter extended a block in all directions, according to WTOP.

Maggiolo said there were no injuries but that nearby buildings and a construction site were evacuated out of “an abundance of caution.”

D.C. Fire and EMS tweeted that it had stopped the leak around 2:51 p.m.

Update large gas leak 1200 block Half St SE. @washingtongas has clamped the leak & gas flow has stopped. #DCsBravest will check adjacent buildings for any residual gas. @wmata is expected to resume normal service shortly. No injuries.

— DC Fire and EMS (@dcfireems) December 26, 2019

A 61-year-old woman died on a Metro train in 2015 after smoke filled a tunnel near the L’Enfant Plaza station. Metro reached an out-of-court settlement with Carol Glover’s family in July 2018.