Residents may see a large flame and experience audible noises with possible odorant smells
Beginning Wednesday, March 8, NIPSCO will be performing work in Hobart, near W 61st Avenue and S Wisconsin Street, at the company’s newly constructed Wisconsin Street natural gas regulator station that will result in the release of natural gas into the atmosphere which is known as purging. Pipeline purging is a critical component of natural gas line commissioning for the flow in lines. This procedure is necessary to eliminate oxygen and water vapor that are retained within a newly laid pipeline network.
As a result of this work, residents and businesses within a one-mile radius of the job site will see a 40-to 60-foot flare stack and may experience audible noise with the possibility of odorant smells in the air. The area is safe, work will primarily take place between the hours of 7 a.m. – 7 p.m. (CST) and is expected to last through Saturday, March 11, with the possibility some work may extend later into the evening or overnight.
Weather permitting, this work is expected to last no more than four days and is part of a larger scale project named the Aetna (Gary) to Tassinong (Kouts) natural gas system expansion, which is expected to be complete at the end of this year. Customers are not expected to experience any interruptions to their existing natural gas service as a result of this work.
Crews will work to complete the pipeline purge as safely and quickly as possible. NIPSCO thanks the community and local residents for their patience as crews complete this critical procedure that will ensure there is a continuously, safe and reliable source of natural gas flow through the new system.
About NIPSCO: Northern Indiana Public Service Company LLC (NIPSCO), with headquarters in Merrillville, Indiana, has proudly served the energy needs of northern Indiana for more than 100 years. As Indiana’s largest natural gas distribution company and the second-largest electric distribution company, NIPSCO serves approximately 850,000 natural gas and 483,000 electric customers across 32 counties. NIPSCO is part of NiSource’s (NYSE: NI) six regulated utility companies. NiSource is one of the largest fully regulated utility companies in the United States, serving approximately 3.7 million natural gas and electric customers through its local Columbia Gas and NIPSCO brands. More information about NIPSCO and NiSource is available at NIPSCO.com and NiSource.com.