City forces Terasen’s hand on gas line location

By Darrell BellaartThe news BulletinMar 29 2007 Nanaimo Bulletin

Nanaimo is ready to go provincewide with its fight against Terasen Gas over underground line locations. Just as Nanaimo’s construction industry takes off, Terasen is withdrawing gas line locator service on Vancouver Island, effective April 2. Municipalities are being told to provide the service. That’s how it is on the mainland, but not elsewhere in North America. Next month the city of Nanaimo will ask the Association of Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities to vote on a motion asking the province to rewrite legislation that allows utilities to download the service onto municipalities. It’s expected to get full support.

Island municipalities worry about additional costs for taxpayers – $150,000 a year in Nanaimo – and greater potential for fires and gas explosions. The motion goes provincewide to the Union of B.C. Municipalities conference in September. Mainland municipalities already provide line locations and Terasen wants other municipalities to do the same. Steve Ricketts, city engineering and construction manager, said the opposition isn’t only coming from Vancouver Island. Southern Interior communities are still stinging from their unsuccessful fight there with B.C. Gas several years ago, when it withdrew the service. The B.C. Common Ground Alliance, a coalition of construction trades and other industries, is calling for a single-call location service for all utilities. “So there’s quite a bit of pressure being put on Terasen, from the B.C. construction industry,” Ricketts said. “I think it’s a province wide issue because I think there are communities in B.C. that would like to see this service.”

On the Island it’s not just a moral issue but a legal one. When Centra Gas – Terasen’s predecessor – applied to the B.C. Utilities Commission to build a gas line to the Island in the early 1990s, it told the BCUC it would provide line location service. Ricketts hopes every municipality in the province supports Nanaimo’s position through the UBCM. “That’s putting pressure to get this legislation through,” Ricketts said. The city will hire a contractor to provide the service next month.
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Don Quixote Note: Does Vernon taxpayers pay this now or will we have to fight it in the future.
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Whether you're landscaping, planting trees, installing fences, building a deck or starting an excavation project, you must have gas line information on-site before you dig. It's important to know what lies underground before digging or using boring equipment. For your safety and the safety of others request gas line information from BC One Call at1-800-474-6886(cellular *6886)
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Please call a minimum of three business days before you start your project. When contacted, BC One Call will notify all member companies that have buried facilities in the dig area. Terasen Gas will provide you with information that will enable you to safely determine the location of underground gas lines within your identified work area.