Hofstra contractor punctures gas line, causing evacuation of several buildings

Hofstra University said it's reopened the three south campus buildings that had been evacuated early Thursday afternoon after a contractor struck and punctured an underground natural gas line.

Occupants were allowed back inside around 3 p.m. A campus alert was disseminated around 1:35 p.m. The leak was reported to the police shortly before 1 p.m. The university evacuated the buildings shortly afterward.

Hofstra spokeswoman Ginny Greenberg said the ruptured pipe was located in front of Weed Hall. It was initially reported that fewer than 50 faculty and students at the Hempstead campus were affected, although it now appears that the number was fewer than a dozen.

The leak has stopped, and it’s being repaired, she said.

The Hempstead Fire Department responded and requested the Nassau County Fire Marshal Hazmat unit, according to the county fire marshal's office. A National Grid emergency crew was able to clamp the damaged pipe to stop the leak, the office said.

The school is currently in summer session.

Nassau County police said the 911 call reporting the leak was placed by Hofstra University Public Safety officers, reporting workers had ruptured the line. The university is in the process of installing signage that identifies each campus building; initial indications are the rupture occurred while contractors were digging a foundation for that signage.