UNION TOWNSHIP — Residents in a new Clermont County neighborhood still live in fear of natural gas leaks more than a year after a house was ripped apart by a gas-fueled fireball.

        Though no one was injured when gas leaked from a pipe, igniting a fire that gutted the three-bedroom residence in the Bluffs at McGuffey Lake, the family who escaped and neighbors remain haunted by the April 1, 2000, incident.

        Adding to their wariness is a string of other, similar gas leaks in the 300-home subdivision, some as recent as this week.

Jesse and Penny Harris, with son Brandon in front of their rebuilt home . . . (Dick Swaim photo) | ZOOM |

. . . which was destroyed April 1, 2000 by a gas leak explosion. (Union Twp. Fire Dept. photo) | ZOOM |

        Many homes in the subdivision are less than 2 years old, with prices ranging from $150,000 to more than $200,000.

        A fleet of Cinergy gas repair trucks is regularly parked on the subdivision streets as workers scramble to inspect and replace pipe that leads to gas meters next to each home.

        “People around here are still scared and very nervous,” said Jesse Harris, who was working the late-night shift for the U.S. Postal Service on the night his home was rocked by the explosion and destroyed by fire.

        His wife and two children had to race for their lives from the burning house in the 1200 block of McGuffey Lane.

        The family has since rebuilt on the same site.

        Union Township fire officials, who helped fight the blaze, said the reports of other gas leaks during the last year — estimates range from a handful according to Cinergy officials to more than a dozen according to residents — have given residents good reason to be fearful.

        “There is a tremendous potential for injury, death and property destruction,” said Union Township Fire Chief Stan Deimling.

        This week, McGuffey Lane resident Nancy Brooks said her young son discovered a gas leak hissing while he was playing near a neighbor's house.

        “We were scared to death. Everybody in this neighborhood is thinking that their house might be the next home to blow up in the middle of the night,” said Ms. Brooks.

        Residents are also angry, Mr. Harris said, at what they perceive as a slow response by Cinergy.

        “The leaks experienced in that neighborhood are significantly higher than in other, similar neighborhoods,” said Cinergy spokesman Steve Brash.

        Mr. Brash said that since the fire, the gas utility has vigorously worked to identify the cause of the leaks and said excessive soil settling has affected the “riser” pipes that run from gas lines to meters.

        He said the company has been extensively testing, conducting soil tests and doing other diagnostics.

        “We will replace any risers ... that seem to have been damaged by the settling of the ground in that area,” he said. The repairs under way are expected to take more than a month.

        Mr. Brash said Cinergy has been working closely with the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, whose attention was drawn by last year's explosion and subsequent gas leaks in the community.

        Shana Gerber, spokeswoman for PUCO, said the agency's gas pipeline safety division has an investigation going on into the explosion and gas leaks, but declined to detail the extent of the probe.

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