A gas line accidentally was cut Tuesday afternoon by AD Williams Construction Company workers as they worked on the parking lot behind the Courthouse Annex on Commerce Street.

According to Hinesville Fire Department Capt. Chris Moss, he received the call while in his incident-command vehicle around 2:30 p.m. Atlanta Gas Light was on site to repair the line shortly after 3 p.m., he said.

“A bulldozer hit the gas line,” Moss said. “Normally, we’d barricade off the area, but this is already a construction site. We’re just using the existing barriers while they repair the line.

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Anyone within 75 feet of the site could smell a faint odor of rotting eggs, depending on which direction the wind was blowing. Moss said if the break had been bigger or if there was any risk of fire, he’d have extended the barricade out another 75 feet. He said the construction site is located where some old government buildings once stood several decades ago. When the buildings were taken down, the gas lines should have been located and marked, according to Moss.

“The winds are shifting again, and you can smell it, but it’s not that bad,” he said. “We’ll just see how it goes. I think it’ll be alright.”

Moss said that in addition to keeping the area blocked off from vehicle traffic, he would ask Hinesville police to assist in preventing pedestrian traffic near the area until the line was repaired.