New Jersey Natural Gas has "retired" 12 miles of gas pipeline on the barrier island between Bay Head and Seaside Park, company officials said.

Crews retired the damaged main in Mantoloking, as well as areas of targeted main in Normandy Beach, Chadwick Beach, Lavallette and Ortley Beach.

"Main anomalies must be addressed before gas can be re-introduced into the system," the company said in a statement.

The company said it expects to begin re-pressurizing its system at its regulator station south of the Mantoloking Bridge on Dec. 3.

"Barring unforeseen conditions that may delay our work, we anticipate restoring natural gas service by the end of December to all of our customers whose homes have not sustained such major damage that we cannot safely restore their service," the company said.

The news from NJNG is in contrast to unsubstantiated rumors that flew during Hurricane Sandy's aftermath that indicated it would take between six and eight months to repair the gas network.

The network sustained damage when pressure to the system was shut off. Officials had determined the shutdown was necessary to prevent gas fires from consuming neighborhoods.