Gas Line Struck in Mill Valley; Roadway Closed: Police [UPDATED]

MILL VALLEY, CA — A gas line was struck Thursday morning in Mill Valley by a contractor, prompting the closure of a roadway, according to police and PG&E.

The Mill Valley Police Department reported the incident at about 10:30 a.m. via Twitter, advising of traffic delays near the scene.

An emergency repair is under way at Camino Alto and Sycamore Avenue, with only one lane of southbound Camino Alto open between Miller Avenue and E. Blithedale, according to Mill Valley police.

PG&E Spokeswoman Abby Figueroa told Patch that PG&E was notified at 10:10 a.m. Thursday that a "dig-in" had occurred at Sycamore and Camino Alto.

"An investigator arrived on scene and determined that it was a third-party contractor who damaged a 2-inch plastic gas line," Figueroa said.

"We worked with first responders on scene to secure the area and stop the flow of gas at 10:41 a.m.," she said. "Crews are on site and working safely to make repairs to the damaged line and we expect repairs to be done this afternoon."

According to Figueroa, the contractor did have a valid USA ticket to be digging in the area but was using an excavator too close to a marked line.

"For personal and public safety, the contractor should not have been using heavy machinery, like an excavator, that close to a marked gas line," Figueroa said. "Safe practice is to use hand tools only when digging within two feet of a marked gas line."

The name of the contracting company was not immediately known.

The dig-in left two customers without gas service, Figueroa said.

She couldn't give an exact time for completion of the repairs, but said it would be sometime Thursday afternoon.

Another 53 customers were without electricity in the area of Almonte Boulevard and Miller Avenue in Mill Valley, but that was a planned outage and was not related to the dig-in, according to Figueroa.

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