By Cassie McClure
Published in Sun-News 11.05.2021
When there is a rotten egg smell coming from inside or outside your house, it is likely a gas leak and the next thing to do is call the 24/7 Las Cruces Utilities (LCU) Dispatch line, 575-526-0500 immediately.
The LCU Emergency Response Team (ERT) notifies and dispatches emergency crews to all their calls within 15 minutes. The team has resources to help solve everything, from a broken water main to notifying customers of emergency water or gas outages. In 2021, the ERT managed an average of 183 phone and radio calls daily.
LCU Dispatcher Eric Weise explained that they receive calls that range from questions about water pressure or discolored water to requests for relights on gas heaters, which LCU does for free. LCU Dispatch receives calls for situations that can be truly dangerous for a resident or business, like when gas is leaking from a meter, or a mainline water break is flowing into a busy street.
“We’re the first responders to dispatch a crew that can handle the problem,” said Weise. “If we can tell that it’s something that needs to be handled immediately, like the smell of gas, the on-call technicians have the equipment to check the meter, verify if there is a leak and work on the meter.”
Each area of service that LCU - water, gas, wastewater, and solid waste - provides has its own on-call crew with the tools and equipment needed for action.
“Even with water leaks, we want to respond as fast as possible because losing water is losing a precious resource,” said Weise. “We’re the first line of help to get a technician out to access and then allocate our resources.”
ERT also manages the internal calls from technicians in the field that may need assistance, for example, in the form of locates. If a technician cannot find where the water line leads or where the nearest pressure release valve is, they can call ERT to send out a locator with the tools and training to locate underground utilities.
Utilities Dispatch Supervisor Michelle Figueroa said, “The most helpful tool for residents is signing up for alerts to the LCU notification system that allows customers to know if there is a planned outage before they call the ERT.” Sign up for alerts and update any old information for free at https://www.las-cruces.org/FormCenter/Utilities-11/Utility-Account-Contact-Information-Upda-137
LCU Customer Central can be reached at 575-541-2111 from 8 a.m. - 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. LCU provides clean, safe, and reliable services to Las Cruces residents and businesses. Learn more at: las-cruces.org/180/Utilities For emergencies, call Dispatch at 526-0500.
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PHOTO 1: LCU Dispatcher Eric Weise takes calls, keeps an eye on alarms and camera feeds, and helps customers get the right crew out, within 15 minutes, to access problems big and small.