PRESTON – It’s been five and half months, and some Preston residents are still waiting for an exposed propane pipeline to be re-buried – or to explode.

According to residents and officials, late June flooding unearthed a roughly 40 foot portion of an underground liquified petroleum pipeline where it crosses the Fly Meadow Creek in the Town of Preston. They’re concerned that heavy debris traveling down the creek could rupture the 12-inch diameter line, emptying the L.P. it’s carrying – at 3,000 pounds of pressure per square-inch – within close range of the nearly dozen homes in the vicinity.

“It’s a big boom waiting to happen.” said Preston resident and volunteer firefighter Chris Lavancha, who is also the town’s safety officer.

The line is owned and operated by the Houston-based Texas Eastern Products Pipeline Company LLC, who residents say they’ve been contacting since the problem was discovered by the Preston Volunteer Fire Department in late June.

“They told us they were still waiting for the DEC (New York state Department of Environmental Conservation) to give them the permits to work in the stream,” said Town of Preston Supervisor Peter Flanagan. “But if the pipe gets ruptured by moving debris or a large rock, it could be a dangerous situation.”