RICE COUNTY—The Northern Natural gas leak has been contained and emergency responders returned to their quarters Friday, afternoon, according to Rice County Emergency Communications. Those displaced due to the incident are now allowed to return to the area.
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RICE COUNTY —Officials with Northern Natural gas are investigating a gas leak in Rice County.
Just after 3p.m. Thursday, crews were doing work at an underground storage facility southeast of Lyons when something happened with a valve that caused a release of natural gas, according to Mike Loeffler with Northern Natural Gas.
The company evacuated everyone within a one-mile radius of the area and closed all access to roads. Testing determined no natural gas at the one-mile perimeter or at the city limits of Lyons, according to Loeffler.
Northern Natural hope to begin repairs Friday morning. The public is not in danger, according to Loeffler.
The incident forced Midwest Energy to cut power to roughly 60 homes and buildings east of Lyons, according to a social media report from the utility. On Friday morning, authorities asked Midwest Energy to be prepared to cut power to another 500 meters in Rice Co, east of Lyons. If required, this outage would come with no notice. The utility thanked residents for their understanding as they help authorities work through this situation.