A small natural gas leak in downtown Westlock Jan. 7 was quickly pinpointed and contained by the next morning.
Town fire chief Stuart Koflick said the department was called to the corner of 101 Avenue and 106 Street at around 1 p.m. on Wednesday to assist Altagas Utilities with a suspected leak.
“They were picking up some readings of natural gas coming out of the storm sewer,” he said. “The readings were very, very low even though you could smell it quite well.”
The smell of natural gas, usually described as being like rotten eggs, comes from additives such as mercaptan the are mixed with the gas to help ensure people notice any possible gas leak immediately, before it builds up to dangerous levels.
Koflick said that was the case on Wednesday, with the amount of gas being very low and posing little risk to public safety.
“There was no requirement to evacuate or anything like that,” he said. “We provided some ventilation equipment to assist them in tracing the leak.”
Once the department had evacuated some fumes from the storm sewer, Altagas crews were able to determine the source of the leak was in the alley behind the Associate Medical Clinic, so the fire department re-staged there.
“We were able to clear up from scene once we were no longer required,” he said.
Altagas Utilities president Greg Johnston said in an e-mail Jan. 8 that crews pinpointed the leak to a location in an alley between 106 and 107 streets just west of 101 Avenue but there was still plenty of work to do.
“Pinpointing the leak is just the first step in a labour-intensive effort to stop the flow of gas,” he said. “It is too dangerous to excavate directly above the leak, so holes are dug a safe distance either side of the leak.”
Once those two holes have been dug, crews can weld steel fittings onto the main and then specialized equipment can be used to stop the flow of gas. At that point, they can excavate over the site of the leak itself.
Johnston said the amount of frost in the ground due to the cold winter weather makes things particularly difficult for the crews doing the work, but regardless it’s a dangerous time-consuming process.
“However, (Altagas) crews are highly-trained professionals skilled at all types of maintenance and repair activities, and performed their duties flawlessly,” he said.
Johnston said Friday morning that the leak originated at an old service tee, and crews were still in the process of determining the exact cause of the leak and repairing it. Once that work is completed crews will backfill the excavations, and the work will be considered complete. The process could take several days.
In terms of public safety, he said the process for what members of the public should do if they smell gas is relatively straightforward. If the smell is inside, vacate the premises leaving doors and windows open and without activating any electrical switches or lighting any flames. If the smell of gas is outside, people should keep clear of the area. In both cases, people should call the company’s 24-hour emergency line at 1-866-222-2068 from a safe distance.
