|
 
Ground Breaking News or via email to the editor: Jocelyn_Fraser@bc.sympatico.ca
For More Information: |
|||||||||||||||||
|
Score One for Safety Reprinted from an article by Laima Dingwall, Energy Times |
||||||||||||||||||
slip of a backhoe was all it would have taken to put the District of Chilliwack on emergency. A contractor was preparing to install a set of traffic lights at a busy intersection near a shopping mall in this community of 65,000 east of Vancouver. But a quick call to BC ONE CALL led to the discovery that the intersection was directly above a portion of Westcoast's natural gas pipeline. The Call averted what Paul Liebregts, Westcoast's land and resource agent in Hope,describes as a potentially life threatining situation: depending on the severity of the incident, a hit to an underground gas pipeline can cause severe damage to equipment, property and the environment, as well as disrupt essential services. Even worse, it could result in personal injury or loss of life. |
 |
Fortunately in Chilliwack none of that happened. After BC ONE CALL notified Westcoast of the contractor's call, plans were inspected, permits were issued, and the contractorwas able to safely install the traffic lights with no risk to him, the public or the pipeline. While Liebregts cautions the example is unique, it illustrates the care that must be taken when an excavation is planned-and underscores the importance of BC ONE CALL. "More and more people are now living and working around our pipelines," Liebregts explains. "And contractors may not necessarily live in the community where they are digging. They may not know who to call to find out what is buried beneath the ground, but with BC ONE CALL it is easy to get the information needed to insure a safe work site. 
|
||||||||||||||||
|
© 1999 BC ONE CALL for more information contact info@bconecall.bc.ca |
||||||||||||||||||
