Fortis BC says the number of instances of people damaging natural gas lines are on the rise, though our local numbers remain close to static.
Spokeswoman Diana Sorace says BC averages 3 gas line hits a day, which works out to over 1,200 in 2017. She says these issues are 90% preventable by calling BC One Call 3 days before digging. She adds rupturing a line can have a number of consequences.
She says instances in Castlegar, Trail and Rossland haven’t changed much from 2016.
Sorace says it’s important to know ahead of time what is underneath the surface being dug. She adds there are steps to take should a line become ruptured.
Sorace says 60% of cases where a gas line was damaged in the province last year were related to work done by contractors, 30% related to homeowners, 3% related to municipal activity and the rest of the cases of damaged lines were caused by other utilities or other events like vehicles hitting meters.