Another gas leak in Wheatley.
Contractors drilling a monitoring well in downtown Wheatley struck a pocket of hydrogen sulphide gas 85 feet below the surface shortly after 11am Sunday morning.
Officials say safety measure worked as they were designed to, the site was evacuated, and no one was hurt.
Thomas Kelly, Chatham-Kent’s General Manager of Infrastructure and Engineering Services said a mobile vent stack system at the site of the well drilling was successfully deployed which allowed the gas to vent to atmosphere without incident.
Drilling was stopped and the crew moved out of the hot zone after connecting the well to the prepared vent system to dissipate the gas.
Work at the site has since resumed, but Chatham-Kent’s Fire Chief Chris Case said with a well-designed and rehearsed safety plan, the latest leak was handled well.
“As part of our response plan, we have firefighters 24/7 on site, they are supported by the Wheatley firefighters who were called,” Case said. “We do not use lights/sirens so as not to cause stress to the local community.”
The monitoring well is the first of two to be installed. One well will reside inside the investigation area and the second just outside the evacuation zone. These wells will allow the investigation team to obtain groundwater and gas samples to support the chemical modelling work.
Case said the incident demonstrates the unpredictable and potentially dangerous conditions that can occur and supports the cautious approach taken by authorities to only allow access to properties when work is not underway.