Philadelphia Gas Works continues to investigate an exterior gas leak along 39th Street between Harrison and Mayer College Houses.
Credit: Jacob HoffbergDigging outside of Harrison College House has continued for over two months since a gas leak was first reported in December 2024.
Harrison residents received the initial notification of a gas leak on Dec. 17, 2024. A follow-up email was sent the next day and indicated that the exterior gas leak was "temporarily patched" with permanent repairs to be completed by the early afternoon. Subsequent emails on Feb. 6, Feb. 12, Feb. 15, and Feb. 19, 2025 again notified residents that an exterior gas leak near the loading dock area was being investigated, with no known timeline for completion.
Philadelphia Gas Works — the company that owns all of Philadelphia’s public natural-gas pipes — acknowledged the inconvenience in a written statement to The Daily Pennsylvanian. PGW External Communications and Media Relations Director Dan Gross cited the noise as a major disruption for Harrison residents, emphasizing the company's awareness of the impact on the University community.
“We know that underground repairs can be disruptive, and we appreciate the patience of the Penn community while we continue our work as it nears completion,” Gross wrote.
Gross also attributed the extended period of repairs to the complicated infrastructure in the area.
“This location does have a vast array of underground installations for our crews to negotiate around, i.e., water, electric utilities, transportation, and telecommunications infrastructure, which has made the final steps of the work take a bit longer than normal,” he said.
The incidence is not the first time that there have been gas-related issues near Penn’s campus. In 2011, the DP reported that a gas main explosion in Philadelphia injured six people and killed a PGW worker, raising concerns about the city’s natural-gas infrastructure. At the time, PGW reassured the Penn community that the University’s gas mains were not at risk.
Despite the ongoing repairs near Harrison, PGW has not reported any pressing safety threats. Gross said in his email that the repair “nears completion” and that residents should call the company's 24/7 hotline if they notice any gas odors.
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