B.C. PIPELINE EXPLOSION
Natural gas supply falls
PRINCE GEORGE, B.C. An explosion and fire in a pipeline that provides natural gas to about 1.5 million customers in British Columbia, Washington state and Oregon has prompted a plea from energy companies to conserve fuel as Indigenous leaders called for assurances of safety.
The blast Tuesday shut down the Enbridge natural gas pipeline about 15 kilometres northeast of Prince George. There were no reports of injuries.
Up to 700,000 natural gas customers in northern B.C., the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island could be directly affected by a potential natural gas shortage, a spokesman for Fortis BC said in Vancouver on Wednesday.
Washington’s Puget Sound Energy urged its 750,000 natural gas customers to lower their thermostats and limit hot water use.
Terry Teegee, Assembly of First Nations regional chief, said he’s still shaken by what he witnessed outside his home on the Lhedli T’enneh First Nation reserve near the site of the explosion.
He said the blast sounded like a huge rumbling train or low-flying jet passing over his roof. Teegee said he saw a 60-metre fireball in the near distance and the impact showered him with dirt.
“When we were outside, I could feel the debris fall in my hair,” he said. “It was the ground or whatever that exploded. You could hear it start dropping. I thought it might have been hail, but it wasn’t. It was dirt. It was in my hair.”
Teegee, whose home is about one kilometre from the site, said he and most members of the community of about 100 spent the night in hotels or with friends.
Enbridge spokesman Michael Barnes said in a statement Wednesday the explosion is the result of a rupture on a 91-centimetre section of the pipeline, causing natural gas being transported to be ignited.
“We can advise the fire on the pipeline has been extinguished, the line has been isolated and fully depressurized,” Barnes said. “As a precaution, an adjacent natural gas pipeline owned and operated by Enbridge has also been depressurized.”
He said Enbridge recognizes the effect the explosion could have on customers, but the company can’t speculate when the gas will start flowing again.
Teegee said area Indigenous leaders met Wednesday with Enbridge officials but left the meeting with unanswered questions about pipeline infrastructure.
“To me, it’s just literally how vulnerable we are in that area,” he said. “For anybody who lives near a pipeline, you realize that these infrastructure are capable of breaching.”
B.C. Premier John Horgan and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee expressed concern about the explosion and potential effect on energy customers during a joint news conference in Vancouver.
“This is a unique situation, we rarely have horrific explosion as we’ve had north of Prince George,” Horgan said.
Doug Stout, Fortis BC vice-president of external relations, said 85 per cent of the gas his company feeds to homes and businesses is carried by the twinned pipeline that runs from northern B.C. to the United States border south of Vancouver.