SaskEnergy Purges Air, Gas From La Ronge Pipeline
Wednesday, September 16, 2009 at 12:37
La Ronge area residents are being told not to worry if they see flames or hear the hiss of natural gas outside over the next week — it’s just a SaskEnergy maintenance procedure.
The utility company plans to hook up new natural gas customers in Air Ronge, the Lac La Ronge Indian Band’s area reserves, and the La Ronge Industrial Park in the next couple of weeks.
Before they can do that, though, spokesman Dave Burdeniuk says they have to clean out the pipeline by purging any air, and burning off gas that has collected during the testing phase.
Burdeniuk says burning off the excess gas is an environmentally-friendly approach, because unburned natural gas release seven times more greenhouse gas emissions into the air than if it is flared.
If you smell rotten egg, it may just be residue from the flaring — or it could be a leak, so be sure to call the emergency hotline.
The number is 1-888-700-0427.