Pipeline explosion not criminal act

Natural gas service to much of British Columbia was being gradually restored Thursday after a pipeline explosion north of Prince George shut down a major supply artery to homes, institutions and industries.

The cause of Tuesday’s explosion in the Enbridge pipeline is under investigation, with teams of investigators from the company, National Energy Board and the Transportation Safety Board at the blast site, about 15 kilometres northeast of Prince George.

There were no injuries and RCMP said Thursday there are no indications the explosion was criminal in nature.

Enbridge said it received NEB approval late Wednesday to restart its 76-centimetre line, which was shut down as a precaution because it is in the same path as the pipeline that exploded and burned.

The second pipeline was carefully checked before permission was received to restart it at about 80 per cent of its normal capacity, Enbridge said in a statement.

Gasoline prices jumped Thursday and were expected to continue to rise as oil refineries in Washington state started to shut down operations. The refineries are largely fuelled by natural gas from the B.C. pipeline.

The natural gas supply disruption saw major industries and institutions switch energy sources, reduce operations or shut down temporarily.

Tolko Industries Ltd. closed its Heffley Creek plywood plant near Kamloops and reduced operations at sawmills in the Cariboo at Quesnel and Soda Creek.