WARNER ROBINS, Ga. — Warner Robins Mayor Randy Toms says his office received around a dozen calls after an automated text was passed around town claiming the city covered up gas leaks, including near Lindsey Elementary School.
Toms posted a video on Facebook on Friday, speaking to the city of Warner Robins and trying to set the record straight.
The city says several people got that text that claimed there was a “Level 1 - Imminent Danger” leak within two blocks of Lindsey Elementary.
Toms explained that claim in the text is false.
"To be clear, at no time has the City of Warner Robins knowingly allowed your family, home or businesses to be placed in harm’s way due to acts of negligence on behalf our gas system," Toms said.
Toms says he immediately asked their city utility department and ESG Operations, the company the city recently hired to run the gas system, to inspect the area.
He says initially, the team did not find anything.
"They then performed a soap test and detected a minute leak on the pipe going to the school meter," Toms said.
He says the leak was so minor that state requirements don’t require them to fix it immediately. They’re required to monitor the line and repair it within 15 months.
"Due to the recent concerns regarding leaks, within our system, the decision was made to take a proactive approach to mitigate the issue," Toms said.
As a result of the rumors, Toms says he asked ESG to inspect every school on the city’s gas system on Friday.
According to City Clerk Mandy Stella, ESG reported that they checked all schools with city of Warner Robins gas service, and they found no leaks.
Toms says the team also investigated another alleged problem two blocks away from Lindsey Elementary at 705 North Davis Drive.
"The investigation of that address revealed that the gas to that location has been turned off and locked since 2013 due to an unrepaired air leak on the customer’s side of the meter," Toms said.
705 North Davis Drive is the address mentioned in last year’s Georgia Public Service Commission inspection report which claimed there was a grade one leak there. The report says the city could not provide evidence that the site had been checked since 2017.
However, Montie Walters, director of the department's utility department, says the state made a typo and that the Grade 1 leak actually happened behind 107 and 109 North Davis Drive. He says the leak was immediately fixed.
Georgia Public Service Commission also confirmed the Grade 1 gas leak happened at 107 North Davis Drive, which is a mile and half from the school. The incorrect address listed in the report is a less than a quarter mile from the school. PSC spokesperson Tom Krause says their inspector is looking into how the error occurred.
Toms says they are doing a leak survey of the entire gas system, including residential and commercial customers. It's due to be complete by the end of May.