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Gas-line leak at Moriarty High forces kitchen workaround; board considers repiping options
Summary
A suspected gas leak on the Moriarty High campus has left the on-site kitchen offline. District staff described difficulty locating the leak because as-built drawings and tracer-wire locations don’t match the field; repairs may require extensive repiping and pavement work.
District maintenance staff told the board on Aug. 20 that a suspected natural-gas leak at Moriarty High School has taken a portion of the campus gas system offline and forced the cafeteria to use alternative food-preparation methods.
Mr. Richie, the district maintenance lead, described pressure-test results showing the north-side feed lost pressure when isolated; crews are using sniffer tests and tracer wires to find where pipeline tees off. "The tracer wires and the as-builts aren’t matching what’s in the ground," Richie said, noting the line may run closer to buildings than plans indicate and that gas can migrate through soil, complicating detection.
Administrators said several interim steps have been used to feed students, including moving food production to other school kitchens and using propane grills. The board discussed options: continue tracer and excavation efforts to locate the leak, install a temporary tie-in from a nearby feed point, or repipe sections of the campus distribution system. Replacing or repiping could require cutting asphalt and landscape work and would be costly and time-consuming. The district plans to meet with additional contractors and utility specialists to decide next steps.
Superintendent Viano said the priority is safety and restoring full kitchen operations before colder weather; the board scheduled a follow-up planning meeting for the coming days to determine whether to pursue repiping or continued detection work.
