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Piers Fuller/Stuff
Residents smelled gas in Lower Hutt on Saturday afternoon. (File photo)
A gas leak left around 30 properties in the Lower Hutt suburb of Waiwhetū without supply overnight.
A spokesperson for utilities network operator Powerco said there were reports from residents about a smell of gas in the Moana Grove area about 4pm on Saturday. Crews later found and fixed the leak.
Operations manager Brett Wolfsbauer said customers’ gas supply in the area was turned off for safety reasons.
“I’d like to thank customers for their patience and understanding while we worked as quickly and safely as we could to isolate the area, locate the leak site and fix the broken equipment.”
While work stopped overnight, they had a crew member stay onsite monitoring the situation, he said.
The network was repaired on Sunday with customers’ gas back on about 2.30pm.
Wolfsbauer said the public were right to call Powerco about the smell of gas.
“We want our customers to report any suspicious gas smells to us, so we can investigate them.
“Whether they turn out to be gas leaks or not, it’s better that people let us know if they think they smell gas, rather than ignoring it.”
Powerco is New Zealand’s second-largest electricity and gas distribution company with gas pipeline networks in Taranaki, Hutt Valley, Porirua, Wellington, Horowhenua, Manawatū and Hawke’s Bay.
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