July 26, 2021 |
In Saratoga, the scene this past June of firefighters standing guard near a broken gas meter spewing product in the air until a Black Hills Energy tech from Rawlins could shut off the line has again raised concerns about the company’s response times for handling such emergencies.
A Representative from Black Hills addressed the Saratoga Town Council last week about the topic. Larry Hogan said BHE can respond to an emergency gas leak within the company’s guideline of 60-minutes of being notified. Hogan said BHE’s policy is no different than other companies; a service area’s first responders should secure an area and wait for the technician.
Hogan said the protocol is designed to prevent a relatively controlled situation from escalating into a rescue or recovery operation if an explosion occurs. Saratoga officials don’t disagree. They just want leaks repaired faster so volunteer fighters with daytime jobs aren’t standing around for hours. Hogan said he understood, but did not offer any plans for speeding up the response time.
Saratoga Fire Chief Pat Waliser said BHE could streamline the process if the technicians who were dispatched to a leak were trained appropriately. In 2019, Waliser said, the tech who showed up at a demolition site where a gas line was punctured had to call in somebody else, adding another 45 minutes to the wait time.
Hogan responded saying that the first BHE person to arrive on the scene is a service specialist, who will troubleshoot the situation and make a determination on how to proceed. Typically, a utility crew will dig out line on either side of the of the hot zone and crimp lines to stop the leak. Hogan acknowledged that all of the equipment needed to repair a leak, whether it’s a punctured line or a struck meter, is in Rawlins. Hogan would not budge on response times, and offered little hope that much would change.
Hogan’s response put the burden squarely on firefighters to seal off an area and wait until the gas company can fix their infrastructure. BHE’s admitted lack of human and material resources in Saratoga, said Chief Waliser, is creating an untenable situation for the department.
Black Hills Energy appeared at Tuesday night’s meeting in response to concerns that Councilman Jon Nelson brought to the Wyoming Public Service Commission. Nelson said conversations he has had with the company since then have clarified some of the questions the surrounding how BHE responds to emergency gas leaks. Nelson added that town residents should not think that firefighters are standing around doing nothing during gas leak emergencies.
In the meantime, company will take steps to relocate some of the at-risk meters in town to reduce the number of strikes involving automobiles, like the one in June.
Pictured above: File photo of Saratoga Town Hall/Police Department. Photo by Cali O’Hare/Bigfoot 99.
