Sioux Center, Iowa — A crew installing the Bakken oil pipeline northeast of Sioux Center hit a natural gas line on Wednesday afternoon, forcing a county road to be closed.
According to Captain Jamie Van Voorst, Press Information Officer with the Sioux County Sheriff’s Office, emergency crews were called to the 3500 mile of Hickory Avenue or K52 about 4:35 PM on Wednesday, August 3rd for a report of a gas line being struck. That’s about two miles northeast of Sioux Center.
Van Voorst reports that crews with Michels Pipeline Construction struck a natural gas line owned by Sioux Center Municipal Utilities. He said the roadway was closed until further notice in the 3500 mile, between 350th and 360th Streets.
Murray Hulstein, Utility Manager for Sioux Center Municipal Utilities says that the situation is causing a gas outage for four customers. He says that the work is under the roadway, so even though they hope to have the line repaired by late Thursday or early Friday, the road repair will take until at least Monday, August 8th, so the road will be closed until that time.
