UPDATED Thursday at 10:30 p.m.: Consumers Energy gasline workers loacted the damaged main. They anticpate having the leak closed off and repaired within a few hours. Once the repairs are complete, they will be restoring gas services to those impacted by the leak.
UPDATED Thursday at 6:30 p.m.: A gas leak has caused the evacuation of 12 homes and a church in Portland on Thursday afternoon. There are no reported injuries at this time.
Authorities blocked off the area of West Grand River Ave near N. West Street and asked for it to be avoided until further notice.
Evacuations have been completed at this time and the evacuees are standing by at city hall in the meantime.
Consumers Energy is currently working on fixing the leakage.
A spokesperson said the gas main was damaged by someone working on vertical drilling in the area.
“We have a crews in the area monitoring the gas levels in the different homes and buildings nearby,” said Consumer Energy Spokesperson Terry DeDoes.
“And also a crew assessing how best to access the pipe once we determine what it is so they can stop the flow of gas from escaping into the atmosphere.”
DeDoes said they will have a better idea of when the damage can be fixed once the assessment has been completed.
Portland is along I-96, midway between Lansing and Grand Rapids.