After a devastating explosion, and a string of fires, the impact a natural gas leak can have has been brought to the forefront.
Small leaks in underground pipes are something that SaskEnergy actively searches out on a daily basis.
“One to two kilometres and hour is all we’re going,” said Ron Bosovich, a leak survey manager with Corrpro Canada, one of the companies SaskEnergy contracts out. “That way if there are any of the smaller leaks we won’t miss them.”
Bosovich drives a van specially outfitted with a laser methane detector that can sniff out even the slightest natural gas leak. If a leak is detected, SaskEnergy crews are immediately called.
“Most of these are relatively simple repair jobs that the customer would lose service for part of a day, or for a couple of hours,” said Dave Burdeniuk, a spokesman for SaskEnergy. “Then we make the repairs and get service back on to them.”
This spring there have been leaks with much more disastrous results. Two people were sent to hospital on April 11th when their house on Shannon road exploded. It happened in an area of town known for significant ground shifting, and has become an area of focus for the Crown utility.
“We normally spend a million dollars a year on safety, that includes upgrading up to 1000 services each year,” added Burdeniuk. “We’ve added two million dollars more this year, and that’s going to have us looking at up to 3000 services in Whitmore Park and Hillsdale.”
Across the rest of Regina, Bosovich will be patiently searching for leaks, so everyone can sleep safely each night.
“It’s best to get it found and repaired before anything can happen.”
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