BY BRENDAN GIBBONS
Times-Shamrock Writer

A gas company clogged a sewer main along Lake Avenue when it accidentally ran a natural gas line through 82 feet of sewer main.

Leatherstocking Gas Co. LLC, a Binghamton, New York-based gas distributor, has increasingly focused on providing service to parts of Susquehanna County. Despite the massive Marcellus Shale deposits beneath their feet, most residents of the county still rely on heating oil, coal, wood or electric heating.

Leatherstocking plans to run gas mains along all of Lake Avenue and most other major roads in the Montrose, according to a map on the company’s website.

Its Montrose project manager, Mario Martello, said it plans to provide service to the entire borough, though it will have to continue installing mains through next year.

“It’s a small company, so we don’t have the capital to do it all at once,” he said.

The sewer main in question is a brittle clay pipe that dates back to the early 1900s, sewer plant manager Ted Cady said. Its diameter is 6 inches, while the gas line is 4 inches in diameter, leaving 2 inches for sewage to flow.

That explains why residents didn’t notice the backup until a month after Leatherstocking had the pipe put in, Cady said.

Outdated maps showed the sewer line in a different location relative to Lake Avenue then it actually was, Martello said. That’s what led to the mistake, he said.

“It’s something we don’t like doing, but with the age of the facilities over there, it’s almost unavoidable,” he said.

The company had representatives on scene immediately, Cady said. They helped find where the gas line entered and exited the sewer line, he said.

“At one point, they had quite a bit of people up there,” he said.

Leatherstocking had the problem fixed by Monday, Cady said. On Friday, no workers or open trenches were visible along Lake Avenue, only straw mats to control erosion.

Martello said Leatherstocking installed about 100 feet of more robust pipe to replace the affected sewer main.