The company doing the road construction on Columbia Avenue says Tuesday’s gas leak wasn’t caused by a mistake by one of its workers.
A company first suspected the leak that closed the road for more than an hour was caused by “operator error”.
A further investigation showed that wasn’t the case, says Marwest’s communications co-ordinator.
“The gas line was damaged by a rock that was being moved by the excavator,” said Stephanie Allen Pelletier in a news release. “The rock contacted the line and cut the wall of the pipe open, resulting in the release of natural gas to the atmosphere.”
She says an investigation by WorkSafeBC and Marwest Industries Ltd. to determine the cause of this incident cleared the excavator operator of any unsafe actions.
It took about an hour to stop the leak and restore traffic flow through the construction zone.
