Natural Gas Smell At North Richland Hills School

NORTH RICHLAND HILLS (CBSDFW.COM) - Some students at an elementary school in North Richland Hills were forced to relocate to other parts of the building after a natural gas incident was reported early Tuesday morning. It happened near Green Valley Elementary School, located in the 7900 block of Smithfield Road.

Fire crews arrived at the school after students and faculty members complained about the smell of natural gas. Firefighters checked the gas levels and moved a couple of classes – where the smell was reported to be the strongest – to other areas of the campus, according to Birdville Independent School District official Mark Thomas.

Nobody was evacuated from the building. The gas levels are said to be low, and pose no harm to anyone inside of the school.

Ray Granado with Atmos Energy said that a substation, located near the school, became overpressurized and started venting natural gas. This is a normal process, one that the equipment is designed to do when there is too much pressure present.

The substation serves as a relay point for Atmos Energy, making sure that natural gas remains at proper pressure throughout the transmission system.