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Gas line rupture on Pipeline Road being investigated

file photo Metro Vancouver

A total of 17 homes around Pipeline Road lost heat on March 9 after FortisBC had to turn off the gas when a line was found to be ruptured.

Metro Vancouver crews working on the Coquitlam Water Main Project were preparing a trench on Monday morning when workers smelled a gas leak.

“We were notified of the incident at 8 a.m.,” explained Lauren Beckett, a media advisor at FortisBC.

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Crews turned off the gas shortly afterward and stopped the flow completely about 12:30 p.m., Beckett said. Repairs were finished by 4 p.m.

After 4 p.m., the technicians went around to each home to re-light all the effected appliances,” she said, adding that tags were left on the doors of customers who weren’t home.

While the rupture is classified as “external party damage,” no one at Metro Vancouver or FortisBC could say what caused the problem. An investigation is underway, Beckett added.

Metro Vancouver crews are set to move north on Pipeline Road and under Coquitlam’s City Centre neighbourhood to Cape Horn.

Formerly set to be complete in 2032, the entire 12-kilometre water main project is now slated to be finished in 2034.

Coinciding with the water main, Metro Vancouver is also planning to double the amount of water drawn from Coquitlam Lake.

Author

A chiropractor and a folk singer, after having one great kid, decided to push their luck and have one more, a boy they named Jeremy Shepherd.

Shepherd grew up around Blue Mountain Park in Coquitlam, following a basketball around and trying his best to get to the NBA (it didn’t work out, at least not yet).

With no career plans after graduating Porter Elementary school, Jeremy Shepherd pursued higher education at Como Lake Middle School and eventually, Centennial High School.

Approximately 1,000 movies and several beers later in life, Shepherd made a change.

Having done nothing worth writing, he decided to see if he could write something worth reading.

Since graduating journalism school at Langara College, Shepherd has been a reporter, editor and, reluctantly, a content provider for community newspapers around Metro Vancouver for more than 10 years.

He worked with dogged reporters, eloquently indignant curmudgeons and creative photographers, all of whom shared a little of what they knew.

Now, as he goes about the business of raising two fascinating humans alongside a wonderful partner, Shepherd is delighted to report news and tell stories in the Tri-Cities.

He runs, reads, and is intrigued by art, science, smart cities and new ideas. He is pleased to meet you.