PNG keeping watch on stretch of exposed natural gas pipeline along Copper River

Erosion issues along the PNG natural
gas pipeline in the NW have been
discovered after last months storms

Officials from Pacific Northern Gas are keeping an eye on a stretch of pipeline along the Copper River after an aerial review of the area noted some significant erosion on the line which provides natural gas to the Terrace, Kitimat and Prince Rupert area.

The erosion was caused by flood waters in the region following the fall storm of October in the Northwest, the policy of PNG is to send a helicopter along the route following such weather incidents to ensure of the pipeline's integrity.

In an interview with Kitimat's Northern Sentinel, Joe Mazza, PNG's operations and engineering vice president outlined that PNG would be dispatching a crew to the area to assess the situation and carry out any repairs, adding that the gas supplier does not believe that the situation is a serious risk.

There is no mention of the erosion issue on the PNG website's notice page to this point, the nature of pipeline integrity however does have a presence on that information portal, outlining the attention that PNG provides towards pipeline integrity and damage issues.

The Copper River situation is the second storm related incident that PNG has had to address since the weather of October abated, last week PNG crews were attending to and pipeline exposure call, that one taking place near Kleanza Creek Crossing.

The PNG VP notes that if any customers have questions about the state of the service to the Northwest they can contact the company at 1-800-667-2297.

Long time residents of the North Coast will no doubt think back to 2003 and the weather related major gas system disruption that activated the City's Emergency Response plan and sent some residents seeking emergency shelter  for a week during that event. 

There have been shorter term service disruptions and calls for consumption reduction at times since that major outage, the majority of which were related to weather incidents impacting on the infrastructure.

More notes related to PNG service to the Northwest can be found on our archive page.