Gas leak under repair at National Grid substation, Southold supervisor says

A high-pressure "substantial" gas leak in Southold forced the closure of several local roads Wednesday afternoon although no one was evacuated or became sick, the town supervisor said.

National Grid said the area was made secure at 6 p.m. and there was no ongoing gas outage. 

Earlier in the day, Southold police were redirecting traffic near Main Road and Corwin Lane where the leak was reported at a National Gird substation, Town Supervisor Scott Russell said.

"The fire department and police department got into action very quickly," Russell said. "You could smell the gas around that whole area."

National Grid officials said the quickly responded to the scene and made the necessary repairs. 

Police and firefighters created a perimeter around the gas leak shortly after 4 p.m., but no evacuation was ordered, Russell said.

National Grid "was able to fix it in a manner where they didn't have to shut down the whole area," he said.

West of a nearby Gulf station, a fog of gas was still visible early Wednesday evening, spewing from behind several trees, observers told Newsday.

The gas leak closed Main Bayview Road, where Sophie’s seafood restaurant was temporarily turning away to-go orders.

Bartender Nancy Brush said the restaurant still had gas service and had not received an evacuation order.

“We can’t take orders because people can’t get here,” she said earlier in the evening. “Nobody can get here to cook for. There’s nobody here. We’re still waiting for someone to knock on our door and close up shop.”

With John Asbury and Randee Daddona

By Robert Brodsky

robert.brodsky@newsday.com@BrodskyRobert

Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has worked at Newsday since 2011. He is a Queens College and American University alum.