Mom Complains About Gas Leak; Atmos Ignores Her

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FARMERS BRANCH (CBSDFW.COM) - A Farmers Branch mother said her complaints about a natural gas leak Monday in her backyard fell on deaf ears at Atmos Energy.

Also, according to Rena Hobbs, if not for standing water causing the gas to rise out of the ground, creating bubbles, her family would never have known there was a gas leak.

"You can smell the gas, obviously -- there's even bubbles," said Hobbs, who kept her six children out of the backyard all week. "It's concerning. Obviously you don't want to light a match back here."

Hobbs posted a video of the leak on YouTube after Atmos Energy told her it would take up to 30 days to repair. "It did seem odd that they weren't taking it seriously," she said. "They needed to evacuate the area immediately."

Dallas attorney Mike Guajardo specializes in pipeline explosion cases and said the situation reminds him of a deadly 2008 gas explosion in McKinney. "It's clearly a volatile and potentially dangerous condition," said Guajardo.

Hours after CBS11 News contacted Atmos Energy, crews arrived at the Hobb's house. The energy company sent a statement, which said initially the leak "...was classified as a non-hazardous leak." Atmos also said Hobbs never requested immediate attention.

Rena Hobb's says she did. "I would be glad if they fixed it tomorrow… today… or tonight," said Hobbs.

After four hours working on the gas leak, it was fixed.

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