Geneseo gas leak leaves students, staff, faculty inconvenienced
Photo courtesy of Lamron Photo Editor FP Zatlukal
On the morning of Feb. 20, 2024, around 9:45 a.m., an emergency alert went out to members of the Geneseo campus community. Faculty, students, and staff alike were advised of the following: “Contractors have hit a gas line in the area of Milne Library. Please avoid University Drive in that area. In addition, Blake Hall, including the Multicultural Center, has been closed temporarily while the issue is resolved.” About 10 minutes after this alert was sent out, an additional alert was released stating that the Integrated Science Center (ISC) and Newton had also been evacuated as a precaution.
According to eyewitness accounts, the evacuation was initiated via a fire alarm pull. There seemed to be a casual reaction to the evacuation happening this way, with many people assuming that it was a fire drill. According to an anonymous eyewitness who was inside the ISC at the time, it was only “when police started taping off areas and yelling for students to evacuate the area, saying it would be closed for a decent bit of the day, that everyone quickly realized this was a bit more dire, and from there people walked away confused and worried.”
I spoke with Taylor Stolberg, a senior biology adolescent education major, who was also in the ISC at the time of evacuation. Stolberg stated, “The fire alarm was when I first heard about the gas leak. I wasn’t sure if it was a drill or a chemical accident in a lab, so I just evacuated. I got the alert about the gas leak about ten minutes later.”
Stolberg reflected on her experience, and like many students, she left all of her things behind in the evacuation. She said, “My belongings remained on a desk on the second floor of the ISC. While no one was entering the building, I was still panicked that there could have been potential theft and thought I was silly for leaving my stuff behind. Granted, it was better to leave the building in the end.”
At 10:57 a.m., a third alert was released to the campus stating that due to the high number of academic buildings being impacted by the leak, classes would be canceled for the remainder of the day. At the release of the alert, Blake, the ISC, Erwin, and Newton were all closed. While these were the only buildings to be officially closed by the campus, several buildings such as Fraser and Bailey had different entrances or exits barricaded in an effort to direct student traffic away from the area(s) of concern.
The first statement directed to employees of the campus was released in this alert as well, stating that nonessential employees who work in affected buildings may work in alternate locations on campus, remotely, or charge the absence to the appropriate leave accruals. The majority of campus offices impacted by the closures took up residence in the MacVittie College Union Ballroom. It was also in this alert that the college stated that the gas leak was not impacting residence halls.
At 12:13 p.m., the campus population received a fourth update stating that “Crews are actively working to fix the gas leak near Milne Library. All classes are canceled for the remainder of the day and evening on February 20.”
Finally, at 2:13 p.m., a final alert was released regarding the issue explaining that; “The gas leak has been turned off, and officials have cleared the scene. All buildings have been reopened, and the area is clear.” With the buildings deemed safe, students such as Stolberg were thankful to be reunited with their belongings.
While the whole incident only reportedly lasted about five hours, students have come forward stating that they were aware something was going on amidst Geneseo’s campus prior to any emergency alert released due to the smell of gas being prominent in the area of the leak.
As of Feb. 21, 2024, there were no further updates on this situation.
