A gas leak Thursday afternoon near the South Oval spewed gas for more than five hours and prompted an evacuation of nearby buildings. The leak was stopped at 5:25 p.m., an Oklahoma Natural Gas Co. spokesman said.

Construction on Lindsey Street and Jenkins Avenue caused the leak, as workers punctured a natural gas line along the road at 11:51 a.m., according to an e-mail from the OU Police Department.

The 8-inch diameter steel pipeline was struck by a track hoe, said Don Sherry, Oklahoma Natural Gas Co. communications manager.

Crews shut off the gas by locating and shutting off a valve on the south side of the leak and by clamping the plastic piping on the north side of the leak, Sherry said.

He said shutting off the gas took longer than expected because the pipe was located 7- to 10-feet deep and there had been a lot of infrastructure near the pipeline.

The punctured natural gas line resulted in gas spewing 25 to 30 feet in the air with winds moving north at 20 mph, said Jim Bailey, Norman deputy fire chief.

Matthews Trenching Co. of Oklahoma City was the contractor working on the line when it was punctured, Bailey said. No injuries were reported.

Unlike propane, which is heavier than air, natural gas is lighter so it dissipates into the air and isn’t as big of a safety threat, Bailey said.

“If it ignites it will be spectacular for a second, then it will just be a fire,” Bailey said.

Immediately after the gas line was punctured, Subway was evacuated and employees waited on the street to be told what to do next .

Subway employee Tyler Baur said that he saw the gas spewing above the stoplight at Lindsey Street and Jenkins Avenue intersection.

As a precautionary measure, OU officials asked students, faculty and residents in the vicinity of the Van Vleet Oval, Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, the athletic dorms and local businesses to evacuate and stay away. OU President David Boren sent an emergency notification e-mail at about 1:30 p.m. to inform the OU community where the line was punctured.

Several buildings such as Copeland Hall were reopened after being cleared, but others buildings nearer to the scene, such as Gaylord Hall, were closed for longer.

At about 6:30 p.m., Boren sent another e-mail notifying the OU community that the area was no longer off limits.

Sherry said no one experienced gas outages as a result of the incident.

The damaged pipeline ran to the university power plant, Sherry said.

He said that officials at the power plant had agreed to reduce their natural gas usage until the line was repaired to ensure that pressure did not fall too low.