Gas company says residents should exercise normal precaution, after 'oderant' release

CenterPoint Energy crews are responding to hundreds of calls from the northwest part of the Twin Cities after a higher concentration of "odorant" was released into the company's natural gas distribution system.

The problem occurred on Friday afternoon while workers were reactivating a pipeline that serves Brooklyn Center, Brooklyn Park, Fridley, Plymouth, Maple Grove and North, Northeast & Southeast Minneapolis.

Customers who smell gas this evening still need to follow all normal precautions and report the smell, said CenterPoint spokeswoman Becca Virden.

"You could have one out of all of these people that actually has a gas leak inside their home, and we do not want to take that risk," she said.

The company says engineers were able to determine the cause of the problem and took corrective action. The smell is expected to dissipate this evening.