(File Photo/paNOW Staff)

By Mat Barrett

What's That Smell?

SaskEnergy, TransGas conducting controlled vent of natural gas near Tisdale on Wednesday

May 28, 2019 | 5:00 PM

If you smell rotten eggs in the Tisdale are on the morning of Wednesday, May 29, don’t panic. SaskEnergy and TransGas are doing a controlled venting of their compressor station in the area.

The process is expected to start around 8 a.m., and should only take about half an hour according to Casey MacLeod, the supervisor of government and media relations with SaskEnergy and TransGas.

“We have some specialized equipment that will be hooked up to our infrastructure at our compressor station just on the west side of Tisdale,” MacLeod told northeastNOW. “Using that equipment, we will be venting the natural gas from the system into the air to clear out that section of the system.”

The reasoning behind the venting is that SaskEnergy and TransGas have some upgrades planned for the station. MacLeod said it is mainly system maintenance and update some equipment.

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Because gas is lighter than air, MacLeod said the gas will just dissipate into the air, but residents in the area could still notice a nasty smell.

“People in the area might smell a little bit of the rotten egg smell that you associate with natural gas,” she said. “What that smell is, is a specialized odourant that we actually add to our system in communities so that if there is a leak, people can smell it.”

MacLeod said not all of Tisdale would smell the odour, mainly the immediate area. However, a strong wind coming from the right direction would bring that smell a bit further into town.

While this is a planned venting for SaskEnergy and TransGas, MacLeod is reminding people that you should still be weary of natural gas at all times.

“We do remind people in the area, even though we have this work going on, if you do think you smell natural gas we still encourage you to call into our emergency line, just to be sure and we can send someone to check it out,” she said.

There will be no disruptions to natural gas service during the process for SaskEnergy and TransGas.

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mat.barrett@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @matbarrett6