Traffic along Greenwood Avenue in Bend was diverted Wednesday after workers damaged a 2-inch gas main operated by Cascade Natural Gas.

The line was damaged by Rocky Ridge Excavation, a contractor working for Pacific Power to drill and install a power pole. According to Cascade Natural Gas public information officer Mark Hanson, the line was damaged by an auger.

No one was injured.

Bend Fire & Rescue crews responded after natural gas began seeping into the air. As a result, the Oregon Department of Transportation and Bend Police Department workers diverted traffic for several hours between Eighth and 15th streets.

In preparation for any construction, contractors must submit what is called a locator request to the Oregon Utility Notification Center. There are records that Rocky Ridge Excavation submitted a locator request for the south side of Greenwood Avenue on Oct. 18.

The permit indicates TDS, Pacific Power and CenturyLink notified the contractor the area was without conflict or that they did not participate in that area; however the status lines for Cascade Natural Gas and city of Bend were left blank.

Lee Baggett from Rocky Ridge Excavation confirmed he submitted the locate request and said all the appropriate parties got back to him except Cascade Natural Gas.

Hanson said Cascade Natural Gas’ usual procedure for a locator request is to send a technician out to investigate the site and mark gas lines with either paint or a flag. When Baggett arrived at the site, he said there was no physical identification of any gas lines by Cascade Natural Gas.

Hanson could not confirm or deny if a Cascade Natural Gas technician was sent out to the location or if the utility was aware there was a gas line there.

“Our lines get hit for different reasons. There could be someone who did not call for locates … there could be an issue where they had locates but they got too close to the line; there could be an issue where a line wasn’t located correctly. Every year we get lines that are hit when people are digging.”

To the contrary, Baggett and Pampi Chowdhury, communications specialist with PacifiCorp, the parent company of Pacific Power, said instances like this do not happen very often.

“I’ve been doing this for 28 years, and this is very uncommon,” Baggett told The Bulletin.

Chowdhury said Pacific Power “followed the proper procedure and had the required permits before digging.” She also said that, in this case, the locator did not mark the area as a point of conflict.

Hanson said Cascade Natural Gas would investigate the cause of the damage. However, repairs are the company’s first priority.