Lordsburg reminds property owners buried gas lines are their responsibility

Lordsburg is warning property owners not to assume the city owns every gas line feeding a home, rental or outbuilding. The City of Lordsburg Gas Department says piping downstream of the meter, whether underground or above ground, is the customer’s responsibility, and that a buried line can turn into a safety problem, a repair bill or a service cutoff if it is ignored.

The city’s reminder matters most on properties with buried service lines after the meter. Owners are being told to check those lines periodically for leaks or corrosion, especially at older homes and at properties with detached structures that may share the same service. Federal notification rules require gas operators to tell customers about buried customer-owned piping when the operator does not maintain it up to the first building downstream, or, if there is no building, up to the principal gas utilization equipment or the first fence or wall around it. The rule does not treat branch lines serving yard lanterns, pool heaters or other secondary equipment as customer buried piping.

If a buried line is found to be unsafe, the city says it will not provide gas service through that line. In some cases, city crews may do the work only through a written agreement with the property owner, and the owner would be charged the actual time-and-materials cost when the job is finished. The city also says it can refer residents to local licensed plumbing or heating contractors who can inspect, repair or replace buried gas service lines and related appliances.

Before any digging near buried gas piping, the city directs residents to call New Mexico One Call at 811 or 1-800-321-2537. New Mexico 811 says it is a free call-before-you-dig service and asks homeowners to give at least two working days’ notice before digging so underground lines can be marked. The New Mexico Public Regulation Commission Pipeline Safety Bureau enforces federal and state pipeline safety regulations and the state excavation damage prevention law.

The reminder lands in a small community where utility problems can affect a lot of people quickly. The City of Lordsburg Gas Department says it serves natural gas customers in Lordsburg and has six employees overseeing the system. Hidalgo County had 4,178 residents in the 2020 Census, and Lordsburg’s population was listed at 2,057, which means a single buried line problem can affect a large share of the local housing stock before anyone realizes there is trouble.