Pipeline fuel leak needs more work

Pipeline fuel leak needs more work
By Dan Hilborn, Burnaby Now assistant editor
Published July 30, 2003


Traffic on the far northern end of Willingdon Avenue is expected to return to normal by the end of this week, in the aftermath of the July 21 jet fuel pipeline leak.

Philippe Reicher, manager of public and community affairs for Terasen Pipelines in Calgary, said crews are now trying to determine the extent of the spill and exactly what kind of remediation is necessary.

"We'll probably need another week of repair work," Reicher told the Burnaby NOW on Monday morning. Crews will only know how long the remediation effort will take after they determine how much jet fuel was spilled, he said.

"That's part of the whole process," Reicher said. "By trying to identify the extent of contamination, that will determine how much digging we need to do in that area."

Ray Lord, manager of public affairs for the nearby Chevron refinery, said tanker truck traffic was allowed back onto Willingdon by the end of the day last Monday, when the fuel leak was first noticed, however, the 41-kilometre pipeline that delivers jet fuel to Vancouver International Airport did not get back on line until last Thursday.

The pipeline leak was first spotted by a Chevron employee conducting a routine inspection on the outskirts of the north Burnaby industrial operation.

Within minutes, emergency response crews were called out to the scene, and tanker traffic was diverted off the main arterial street.