OWASSO, Ok — An underground methane leak has forced the shutdown of 22 businesses at an Owasso shopping center, leaving owners scrambling and customers locked out.
The city says high levels of flammable gas have been detected behind the Cornerstone Shopping Center building at ground level. The source of the leak remains unknown, and the timeline for reopening is unclear.
WATCH: 22 businesses forced to close as methane leak shuts down Owasso shopping center:
Owasso Fire Chief David Hurst said the underground leak poses a real danger.
"We have a methane leak coming up from the ground at the back of these businesses," Hurst said.
Hurst said crews are actively monitoring gas levels to keep the public safe.
"We are continuing to monitor it, every 3-4 hours we come just to see if there is any changes in the readings and then just trying to keep folks away from the building to try and keep the public safe," Hurst said.
For Ben Sloma, owner of Screaming Earth Records, the timing of the shutdown dealt a significant financial blow.
"The biggest days for us are Friday and Saturday so shutting down on Thursday was huge. We make the majority of our weeks' revenue on Friday and Saturday so being shut down for those two days basically killed us," Sloma said.
Matthew Fleske, a financial advisor at Edward Jones, said the closure affects different businesses in different ways.
"A lot of these businesses are walk in and so they are looking for people to come in a shop on a regular basis and some others like us, we are by appointment so it may impact others more than us but we definitely want to be open," Fleske said.
Landlord Randy Carpenter is working on a venting system to address the problem but warned some businesses may struggle to survive. He said four restaurants, including Kim's Pho, desperately need their gas turned back on.
"Today, we've got a number of people out here trying to figure out the solution to this," Carpenter said.
The pumps the landlord is having installed are intended to dissipate the gas and make the building inhabitable again.
Oklahoma Natural Gas sent 2 News this statement:
During a routine leak survey, Oklahoma Natural Gas detected the presence of gas at the Cornerstone Shopping Center in Owasso and worked closely with the Owasso Police Department, Owasso Fire Department and the Oklahoma Corporation Commission (OCC) to assess the situation.
Our investigation determined that the gas detected was not originating from the Oklahoma Natural Gas system. We have shared those findings with the OCC, which continues its review of the incident.
Safety is our top priority, so we want to remind everyone that if they have a natural gas emergency or smell natural gas, leave the area immediately and then call 911 and 800-458-4251.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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