Increased gas odor reported throughout southern Denton County

There is a higher than normal gas odor being reported Thursday in Flower  Mound and throughout southern Denton County due to over-pressurized lines.

Denton County Emergency Services District No. 1 — formerly Argyle Fire District — said in an email toresidents that it has been experiencing an increase in call volume over the smell of gas from buildings around its service area. Crews have not located any hazardous levels of natural gas on the calls, only the mercaptan odorant.

According to an update from Atmos, the Atmos site in Justin over-pressurized service lines with mercaptan. There is not much demand for the natural gas service, so the odorant is sitting in the lines and migrating into buildings. Atmos is working to place filters in the lines at some metering stations, but it can’t provide a timeline on how long the odor will remain present.

The Lifetime Fitness Center in Flower Mound was reportedly evacuated over the gas odor.