After more than a half-century of service a gasket on a gas line running along West Academy Street broke Tuesday afternoon causing a leak that forced the cut off of service to a dozen customers while the damage was repaired.

City of Union Utility Director Joe Nichols said the break occurred around 3 p.m. as utility personnel were trying to ensure there was no further leakage from the line. Nichols said city personnel had detected a small leak there the previous week and had dealt with it at that time. To prevent further leakage, Nichols said utility workers were attempting to tighten the gaskets on the valve in the flange when the gasket broke off causing the leak.

Nichols said the gasket, flange and valve were installed with the rest of the line in the 1950s.

While the section of West Academy Street was closed to traffic shortly after the leak occurred and natural gas service was cut off to a dozen customers around 4:30 p.m. so that repairs could be made, Nichols said no one had to be evacuated. He said the repairs would involve removing the old valve and installing what’s called a blind flange. The process was expected to take a couple of hours to complete.