A ruptured gas line caused the hour-and-a-half closing of the University Center and other buildings on Monday.

The UC was closed from 11:30 a.m. to just after 1 p.m. Monday. The Christian Campus Center, Baptist Student Ministry and three surrounding apartment complexes — Autumn Hollow, Garden Club and West Crossing — were all evacuated.

Don Lange, facilities management assistant director, said Infinity Contractors workers struck a natural gas line with their backhoe when digging a trench to lay a chilled water line on the north side of the UC.

“The gas line they hit goes [from] the Baptist Student Center to Woolf Hall, the engineering labs and Nedderman Hall, but it did not affect the UC,” he said.

Lange said Infinity Contractors consulted grid maps provided by Dig Texas Excavation Safety System, also known as Dig TESS, a group that catalogs and stores utility line maps in accordance with state law, before they began digging.

“Dig TESS was called out at least twice to verify locations, and from what I understand, they showed where the gas lines were supposed to be, but it was in actuality not where they were,” he said.

The 1998 Texas damage prevention law requires most excavators to join a database and notify that database 48 hours before they dig. The rule is commonly known among contractors as “call before you dig.”

Michael Losawyer, director of operations for Dig TESS, denied that the leak was due to any negligence on their part.

“The utilities are constantly putting stuff in the ground, so it’s up to that company to submit that information to TESS so we can update our data,” he said. “It’s a big operation. It’s more than just saying that there was a mistake. There’s a possibility that the utility companies just didn’t register their facility. You have to ask, ‘Did they even call?’ ”

Infinity Contractors was unavailable for comment.

Accounting graduate student Karl Fultz, who lives in a West Crossing apartment, said the ruptured gas line didn’t scare him; he just didn’t enjoy the smell.

“It does kind of suck that I can’t go into my own place, but it’s better they evacuate us than leaving us in there to get blown up or something,” he said.

The heavy gas smell in the air left one student questioning the safety aspects of the situation. Architecture junior Tunde Ogundele said the gas was flowing out for nearly two hours, and the constant hissing noise and acrid smell were very upsetting.

“This is just another problem with UTA,” he said. “They needed to shut off the gas, but I guess that’s not in the budget.”

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