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Gas plants and facilities in path of wildfire shutdown

Sep 12, 2017 | 5:54 AM

LETHBRIDGE –  As a wildfire moved forward into Waterton Lakes National Park and then threatened areas outside the park, there was concern voiced about area gas plants.
 
However, energy officials had already executed a strategic plan.
 
Kristen Schmidt, Shell’s community liaison officer, confirms the plant at Twin Butte, belonging to Westlake Energy, and the plant at Waterton, owned by Questfire Energy, have both been shut down and depressurized, as directed by the Alberta Energy Regulator.  It means there is no more gas in those facility systems.
 
Schmidt says they have actively been executing an emergency response plan that had been prepared over the last week, in response to the wildfire.
 
“Gradually shutting in our fields with facilities closest to the fire, including additional fire protection for our field crews that are out there right now, and with this, the safety and security of our people and the community are top-of-mind with everything that we’re doing.”
 
The company planned to do a full scale shut down, as well as a gradual shut down, meaning they would be able to section out the fields closest to the fire and get the gas away the impending blaze and get it further away in the system so that there wasn’t any risk if the fire did reach the lease sites.
 
As well, Schmidt explained that all of the lease sites are ‘fire smart’, meaning they are built on large gravel pads, which are designed to have a blaze travel around them, without causing any damage to the site.