Pipeline leak shuts down gas to 5K+ homes

A natural gas transmission pipeline damaged near Fennville Wednesday cut off service to some 5,200 customers in the Saugatuck/Douglas/Fennville area.

More than 200 Michigan Gas Utilities and other crews from Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois and continued working to restore service as of Friday.

But with temperatures dipping nights into the 20°s, homes and businesses could still be without heat for several days, the utility said.

In response, local jurisdictions coordinated to open a community emergency shelter Thursday at Third Coast Community Church, 6069 Blue Star Hwy., northeast of Saugatuck.

Amenities included are warm drinks, snacks, resting areas, cots, blankets, shower, basic supplies and friendly faces. Service animals are welcome.

Residents planning to stay are encouraged to bring identification, medications, personal hygiene supplies, bedding if possible, changes of clothing and important documents.

For shelter-specific inquiries, call the American Red Cross at 1-800-RED CROSS. For transportation assistance, call the Interurban Transit Authority at (269) 857-1418 or Allegan County Transportation at (269) 673- 1418.

Operator TC Energy continues working to repair the pipeline, damaged by a third party unaffiliated with MGU or TCE, the utility said in a press release.

To ensure service is safely restored, MGU has been visiting all venues affected by the outage to turn service off at the meters.

After repairs are completed, expected by late Friday, and natural gas is flowing back into the pipeline, MGU and other Midwest utility crews will again visit each customer properties to turn service back on at the meter.

These crews also will relight all affected customers’ natural gas appliances to ensure they are working safely. For more information, visit https://news.michigangasutilities.com/ .