Gas Smell- Dealing with PSEG

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Author Message   Smarty Jones Citizen Username: Birdstone Post Number: 958 Registered: 10-2005 Posted on Monday, July 17, 2006 - 10:48 am:        I've got a fairly persistant smell of Gas coming directly above our front sidewalk, which leads me to believe there's a leak in the pipe running from the street to the house. I've had PSEG out more than 6 times (this is on-going 6 months now, and they are always very prompt). 2X they picked up positive readings on the meter (i saw it whirr myself), but said it was inconclusive.....4X they left with no results. The gas smell is obvious, and constant. How far do I want to push this with them? What can I expect should they decide to investigate further? Is this something I can afford to simply ignore?   tjohn Supporter Username: Tjohn Post Number: 4497 Registered: 12-2001 Posted on Monday, July 17, 2006 - 11:34 am:        In theory, as long as the gas smell is outdoors only, the chances of a home-leveling explosion are low. OTOH, if you have a leak, it raises the possibility that water will seep into the gas line during heavy rain and that can't be good for gas appliances. Seems to me that unless they can prove that the gas main is not leaking, they should err on the side of caution.   greenetree Supporter Username: Greenetree Post Number: 8384 Registered: 5-2001 Posted on Monday, July 17, 2006 - 11:53 am:        Call the non-emergency Fire Dept. line and ask them about it. You can also call the Public Service Commission (or whoever regulates them in NJ; don't know). That will definitely get their attention. They don't like PSC complaints.   mrmaplewood Citizen Username: Mrmaplewood Post Number: 371 Registered: 5-2001 Posted on Monday, July 17, 2006 - 5:04 pm:        PSEG has notoriously leaky mains. They are about 100 years old, and you can see patches in the street all over Maplewood where they have dug up and worked on them. Part of Springfield Ave was bypassed a couple of years ago. I have smelled the gas outdoors at various times, and you are probably also. They get around to fixing them in their own time. But you should pursue the Fire Department idea anyway.   Calliope Citizen Username: Calliope Post Number: 679 Registered: 3-2006 Posted on Monday, July 17, 2006 - 7:01 pm:        You can also call the Public Service Commission (or whoever regulates them in NJ; don't know) It is the New Jersey Public Utilities Commission. It is a State agency and they have a consumer hotline---sorry, I don't know it off the top of my head, but it will show up in a Google search.   Micheale Citizen Username: Micheale Post Number: 13 Registered: 3-2006 Posted on Monday, July 17, 2006 - 8:41 pm:        Sewer gas can smell like natural gas and can even register a low reading on the meter. We had an issue with this in our house where a vent line was improperly installed, and I've noticed the same smell around a few houses on Maplewood Ave.   SOSully Citizen Username: Sullymw Post Number: 1300 Registered: 5-2001 Posted on Tuesday, July 18, 2006 - 8:59 am:        Maplewood or South Orange. If SO, it could be related to the gas lamps   newtoallthis Citizen Username: Newtoallthis Post Number: 290 Registered: 2-2003 Posted on Tuesday, July 18, 2006 - 1:15 pm:        When we first moved in there was a constant gas smell near our front walk, right around a gas lamp. PSEG were called several times and finally someone showed up and admitted there was a problem. They dug up the sidewalk and had to run a cover over the line from our house heading to the street. They also repositioned the gas lamp further away from the street, claiming a UPS truck had hit it and caused the leak somehow (not sure how they knew that. and not sure if our house line somehow links to the lamp and then the street). In the end, it didn't cost us anything and just the sidewalk was dug up. The smell vanished after that. Of course, it took a zillion calls to get PSEG to send a crew out to replace the sidewalk...   dave23 Citizen Username: Dave23 Post Number: 1883 Registered: 5-2001 Posted on Tuesday, July 18, 2006 - 1:58 pm:        I agree with Greene. Call the Fire Dept and ask if there's an imminent danger and find out what you should do. I've dealt with them numerous times and they've all been exceptionally nice guys.