3rd gas leak in a year at Gorham elementary school prompts investigation
After resolving gas leaks in Narragansett Elementary School on Sunday, Gorham School District facilities staff and mechanics are investigating the root cause of the repeated issue. The leak is the third the school has experienced in the past year.
Superintendent Heather Perry said this week’s leak was identified when someone on the athletic field beside the school smelled gas on Sunday and reported it to the Gorham Fire Department at about 12:30 p.m. Maine Natural Gas found one large leak in a roof ventilator and two small leaks in exterior ventilators in modular classrooms.
Maine Natural Gas staff shut the gas valves off Sunday and worked with mechanics from Johnson & Jordan to repair them Monday. Families were notified of the leak Sunday and school operated normally this week after staff determined the building was safe.
Two separate leaks within a month at Narragansett Elementary School late last year prompted evacuations and school to close for two days while staff dealt with the issues, which Perry said at the time were unrelated. One prior leak about two and a half years ago also prompted an evacuation.
Perry said the repetitious leaks have led staff to launch in-depth investigations to determine the root of the problem and identify how to fix it, and that the school department responds to all incidents quickly.
“We’re as concerned as anybody else might be that this … continues to repeat itself a little bit,” Perry said. “That’s why we’re focused a lot on the preventative maintenance side of things right now and trying to get to the bottom of it.”
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Madeleine is a community reporter for Gorham, Buxton and Standish. She started her journalism career in Vermont, where she reported for Seven Days and served as the editor-in-chief of Middlebury College's. More by Madeleine Kaptein
