A gas leak that forced residents in the 800 block of Turret and Geikie to leave their homes for three hours last weekend (July 18) is causing concern among town councillors.

The town block was evacuated for three hours on Saturday while the town waited for Atco gas representatives to fix the leak. While the fire department evacuated the area as a safety precaution, the Jasper Atco gas representative was away on vacation when the accident occurred, so the representative from Edson was required to drive to Jasper. That delay forced the evacuation of the block.

The damage was caused when a large boulder fell on the gas line as Jasper Concrete crews were performing maintenance work.

“The old service lines are fragile. It’s not a welded connection so they can come apart. The work in the lanes is tricky work... there are lots of opportunities for things to go wrong,” said Jasper manager of environmental services Ken Quackenbush.

Quackenbush said all of the lines were properly marked at the time of the accident.

“It’s not gross negligence. It’s just something that can happen.”

Mayor Richard Ireland said there used to be a back-up Atco worker in Hinton, however that position is empty. He asked if there was any other way the town could address the problem.

“If Atco doesn’t have a redundancy, could a volunteer firefighter be trained to deal with the gas leak?” The mayor asked.

Coun. Ralph Melnyk said a journeyman plumber could likely be found to act as a back-up to Atco.

Coun. Gloria Kongsrvd was frustrated by the delay.

“It amazes me nobody was on call. This isn’t the first time this has happened. There was another incident a month ago.”

Coun. Rico Damota said there needs to be some sort of redundancy.

“There’s nothing the firefighters can do.”

Quackenbush said a series of valves will be installed in September that would allow Atco to isolate gas leaks. He said a number of lines are also in need of replacement.

“It’s a maze down there right now,” he said.

Quackenbush also mentioned that the town has received four venting calls this week for propane tanks leaking in the sun. He said the tanks are supposed to vent in the warm weather.