Police close roads due to gas leak

A gas leak in Portales caused police to shut down 18th Street between Avenue B to Abilene and evacuate residents from their home Wednesday afternoon.

Portales Police Detective Charlie Smart said TLC, the company contracting to construct the wastewater plant pipeline, struck a gas line while working Wednesday.

The section of street was closed down as of 2 p.m. with TLC officials saying they would have the gas turned off within an hour, at which time, residents in that area of 18th Street would be allowed to return to their houses.

Smart and Officer Chris Valdez said city officials said the repair of the line would take much longer but could not give an estimate of how long. Both said residents on 18th Street would be without gas until the line is repaired.

Public Works Director John DeSha was out of town during the incident but said he had been notified and that the company had hit an unmarked pipeline.

TLC also hit a water pipeline last month, causing Portales residents and businesses to be without water for just over 24 hours.