Xcel Energy workers have stopped a gas leak on St. Paul's West Side.
According to the St. Paul Fire Department's Twitter account, a 4-inch gas line was struck by a backhoe Monday around 10 a.m. in the area of Fillmore Avenue and Lafayette Frontage Road underneath the Lafayette Bridge.
Around noon, Xcel Energy crews were able to clamp the pipe and stop the leak. Fire crews were standing by in case the gas ignited, said St. Paul Fire Marshal Steve Zaccard.
Fillmore Avenue was closed, and two businesses were evacuated as a precaution, Zaccard said. One business has been reoccupied.
"It's a lot of gas coming out, but with the light winds we are having it's dissipating mostly upward," he said.
The gas is not a danger to anyone traveling on the bridge, Zaccard said.
