INVESTIGATION: Officials to determine who's responsible for gas leak | News

NEW HANOVER COUNTY, NC (WECT) – Officials are investigating to
determine who is responsible for causing the gas leak that shut down traffic
and caused a school to go on lockdown Wednesday afternoon.

Piedmont Gas is working with the communications
company that was working in the area to determine what happened.

The Wilmington Fire Department will
recoup any money spent during the incident from the company that is responsible
for the leak.

The Director of Advancement from Cape Fear Academy sent out an email Thursday morning that read, "Cape Fear Academy officials were notified during the night that the leak is repaired and gas service has resumed." Students were back on a normal schedule Thursday.

The break prompted Cape Fear Academy to go into lock down just before 4:00 p.m. and crews in the area shut down South College Road in both directions between 17th Street and Pine Cliff Drive.

According to the Director of Advancement at the school, a communications company hit an 8-inch gas line on the CFA side of College Road at the entrance to the academy.

Workers from Piedmont Natural Gas later arrived on scene, trying to clamp the broken line. Traffic began moving again in both directions along S. College Road around 8:00 Wednesday night.

About 100 students were still on campus when CFA went on lock down around 3:45 p.m. A teacher from the school said that you could see gas coming out of the ground in front of the school. They said it "looks like steam shooting out of the ground."

School employees evacuated the upper school building, and students and staff were then moved to safer locations at the back of campus.

Around 6:15 Wednesday night, school officials released a statement saying that Wilmington fire officials would allow students to leave campus if students drove themselves or the students' parents are on campus to pick them up.

Around 7:00 p.m., two buses dropped off the remaining students from the school at Walmart, where very relieved parents were able to pick them up and take them home after a very long school day.

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