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Gas Line Ruptured on CSU East Bay Campus

HAYWARD (BCN) - A gas leak at California State University, East Bay, Wednesday morning has added chaos to the first day of school, a campus spokesman said.

The leak was reported at 7:49 a.m. at the campus, located at 25800 Carlos Bee Blvd. in Hayward, Hayward fire Capt. Thor Poulsen said.

Construction crews working on campus apparently struck a 2-inch plastic gas line, PG&E spokeswoman Cindy Pollard said.

Pollard said PG&E crews were squeezing the line off from both sides, and expected to have the leak capped by mid-morning.

The leak was not causing a fire hazard, but firefighters and police visited surrounding neighborhoods to reassure residents, Poulsen said.

No one was evacuated, and CSU East Bay classes were still in session, campus spokesman Barry Zepel said.

Zepel said the leak has disrupted traffic near the campus, and has made first day of classes at CSU East Bay more hectic than normal.

"It's the first day of class, and things are usually crazy enough with that," Zepel said.

He said there were "massive traffic jams getting onto the campus, which is typical for when the academic year opens, with students not sure where to go, or where to park, and this is just adding to that."

Zepel said that normally, students who miss a class on the first day of school are dropped from the class, but because of the leak, "that's not going to happen today."

(© 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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