If You Smell Gas

  1. If outdoors, keep away from the area (go to step 3).
  2. If indoors, leave your home immediately.
    - Don't turn lights on/off.
    - Don't make phone calls (including cell phone) from inside of your home.
    - Don't do anything that may cause a spark.
    - Leave windows and doors open while exiting, to allow gas to vent outside.
  3. Call our emergency number or 911 from a safe distance

    Pennsylvania & West Virginia:
    800-253-3928

    Kentucky:
    606-433-2900
  4. Wait for our service personnel to tell you it's safe to return to your home.

Since methane from a natural gas well is essentially odorless, natural gas distribution companies odorize the gas prior to distribution to residential, commercial, and industrial facilities. The chemical used in odorizing the gas is called "mercaptan". Mercaptan is a sulfur-containing compound that is mixed in small amounts with the natural gas stream to give it a distinctive sulfur odor. The mercaptans, similar to natural gas, are nontoxic and added to the gas stream for the sole purpose of leak detection. For example, if one of the natural gas pipes is leaking inside a residential dwelling, the occupants will be able to immediately detect the smell (i.e., the mercaptans). It is imperative that your local gas company be contacted when the smell of mercaptans is detected inside or outside of any dwelling (residential, commercial, or industrial).

When the smell of natural gas is detected inside the home, the following points are important to remember:

  1. Immediately vacate the area if there is a strong odor of natural gas.
  2. Shut off the natural gas if possible.
  3. Ventilate the area where the smell is originating.
  4. Call your local natural gas company from a phone located outside the affected dwelling.
  5. Do not attempt any of the following: light a match, smoke, operate appliances, use your phone, ring the doorbell, and/or turn the lights on or off.