With another state of emergency in effect in Wheatley, emergency and municipal officials are still waiting on test results following the latest gas leak on Erie Street North.
Mayor Darrin Canniff says the key right now is finding out where the gas is coming from.
“This time we were able to capture some of the gas and it’s gone off to labs across Canada, I’m told that what that will do is be able to look at if it’s coming from a gas well or a water well,” Canniff says. “There’s one (provincial) ministry that looks after water wells, and one ministry that looks after gas wells, so if we can distinguish that, we can have that ministry take control.”
The leak was detected in the former Pogue restaurant on Erie Street North in Wheatley Monday morning, the same site as a leak detected a month and a half ago.
If the tests can’t pinpoint where the gas originated, it could be a very laborious investigation.
“Either you bring in backhoes and you start ripping everything up, or you can do the gas analysis. At least it’ll help point us in the right direction.”
Canniff says the gas leak in June was described as a “burp” with a release of pressure underground.
Results from the tests are expected in a week or so.
23 residences and 13 businesses have been evacuated as a result of the leak, displacing 52 people.
