WAHKON — Law enforcement evacuated people staying at Mille Lacs Island Resort Wednesday, June 30, after a report of a gas line cut.
The Mille Lacs County Sheriff’s Office was notified at 10:31 a.m. that contractors hit a natural gas line in the area of the 39000 block of East Moose Lane in Isle Harbor Township in Wahkon, while using a backhoe.
Deputies along with the Isle Fire Department and the Mille Lacs Health System Ambulance service were dispatched to the scene and began evacuating the resort and surrounding residents to the east of the resort in case there was a fire. Residents were directed to the community center building in the Mille Lacs Island Resort and resort staff assisted emergency service personnel.
The sheriff’s office, utilizing an emergency messaging service, sent out an alert for residents of Mille Lacs Island Resort to go to the community center building.
“The alert, which was sent out, was inadvertently on a statewide notification,” the sheriff’s office reported. “This was not intended and the issue was identified immediately and resolved through further Facebook messages.”
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The natural gas leak was sealed at 1:50 p.m., and the Minnesota Office of Pipeline Safety was on scene. There were no reported injuries and all of the people who did evacuate were told they could return home.
Crews were still on scene about 4 p.m. monitoring the on-going work on the pipeline and during the incident work crews were monitoring the natural gas contamination in the area. The natural gas, which was released, appeared to dissipate quickly and there were no further dangers after the leak was sealed, the sheriff’s office reported.
