Hobart residents may experience the sights, sounds and smells of natural gas pipeline purging this week.
NIPSCO says it'll be working on its new regulator station near 61st Avenue and South Wisconsin Street, between Wednesday and Saturday. That will involve releasing natural gas into the atmosphere.
During the work, those within a mile will see a 40-to-60-foot flare stack. There's also the possibility of audible noise and odorant smells in the air. NIPSCO stresses that the area will be safe and says the purging process is necessary to eliminate oxygen and water vapor from newly-laid pipelines.
Most of the work is scheduled to take place between 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m., but it could continue later into the evening. No gas outages are expected because of the work.
