Burnside natural gas leak marks 21 since mid-2009

Wednesday’s gas leak in Burnside was not the first natural gas leak in Nova Scotia. Since mid-2009, there have been 21 of them, mostly in the metro Halifax area.

In some of the cases, contractors didn’t call before they dug. In other cases, they did and Heritage Gas staff marked the gas lines, but the markers were disrupted or removed by construction.

“This has to stop. If one happens, you can understand it, but 21?” said councillor Gloria McCluskey.

“How incompetent are people that they're doing this? If you're doing construction work, then you want to make sure you know where the gas lines are?”

Signs urging contractors to call before they dig are easily spotted. During installation, there are precautions built into the gas line. Above the line, something called bedding material is placed. On top of that, there is a large yellow sheet which is the danger sign for diggers getting too close.

The municipality says it has a comprehensive process in place before digging even occurs.

“The contractor must speak with Heritage Gas to identify the location of any natural gas lines and then also that information is refreshed every two weeks in case there’s work going on that they may not be aware of,” said spokesperson Tiffany Chase.

The municipality says at its 220 excavation job sites so far this year, there have been only three line ruptures.

When an incident occurs, the municipality investigates.

“As part of our process, anytime an incident like this takes place, we'll be reviewing the incident reports that will be filled out by the contractor and Heritage Gas and then making a determination if the process was met,” said Chase.

In a statement, Heritage Gas said the three incidents so far this year are well below that of the Canadian industry average rate.

“We continue to promote 'Call Before You Dig' and we regularly train and educate contractors about the importance of working safely around natural gas line,” said the statement.