OGC releases report on EnCana gas leak near Pouce Coupe

Thursday, February 4, 2010

By Energeticcity.ca staff

The Oil and Gas Commission has issued EnCana a slew of recommendations following a gas leak near Pouce Coupe.

The OGC released its 'Failure Investigation Report' on Thursday morning, which contains 12 directions and recommendations for the energy giant.

On November 22nd of last year, a gas leak forced the morning evacuation of 18 nearby South Peace residents. Investigators with the OGC interviewed those residents, and the results were compiled in the report.

The first report was from a resident who noticed a sewage-like smell at around 2:30 a.m. Several residents then began noticing the pungent smell, as well as a loud jet sound. An individual decided to dial 911 to report the suspected gas release at 8:36 a.m.

RCMP and EnCana officials arrived shortly after, and by 10:45 a.m., the well site was successfully shut down. The OGC has found that fracture sand, mixed with the high-velocity gas stream, eroded the well site tee, which ruptured and caused the gas release.

But, the report also explains that the piping was not properly inspected to prevent the damage. It claims 'in this instance, the piping failed before any inspection of the piping was conducted.'

The report also recommends that EnCana place emergency shutdown valves immediately adjacent to the wellhead at all well sites within B.C., where internal abrasion from sand may present a hazard.

For the full report, click on the attachment below.

Attachment	Size
OGC Investigation Report 04.02.10(2).pdf	1.43 MB

news

encana leak

Submitted by born and raised here on Thu, 2010/02/04 - 14:32.

it is very lucky that no residents were killed as a result of h2s in the immediate atmosphere. also it surprises me that it took the residents so long to report the smell. more education and safety devices must be implemented for the residents anywhere near sour gas transmission. maybe encana should drill a sour well right beside the owners of encana. i"ll bet that would get the attention of their own family and children.

H2S Detection

Submitted by FSJ BOY on Thu, 2010/02/04 - 17:45.

All landowners whose residence fall inside the ERP area of a well should have H2S detection installed by the energy company. Also maintained as often as the ones at their plants.

Slow Motion, Encana and OGC style

Submitted by simplyamazed on Fri, 2010/02/05 - 14:34.

The leak started and nobody noticed despite the high alert about the 'Gumbo Gulch Bomber'. Over 8 hours to figure out there was a leak. Over a year by the OGC to make up a report about it. Interesting to see how long it will take for any of these recommendations to be put into practice. Hold your nose, in the mean time.