BCER confirms occurrence of gas leak near Pouce Coupe last week

POUCE COUPE, B.C. — The province’s energy regulator has confirmed a sour gas leak occurred near Pouce Coupe on April 3rd.

The leak occurred at an Ovintiv well pad, about 5.3 kilometres southeast of Pouce Coupe, just after midnight on Sunday morning and was detected via an on-site air monitoring device.

“The leak was identified as coming from a surface casing vent of a natural gas well,” said the British Columbia Energy Regulator (BCER) in a statement.

“At the time of the leak, the operator mobilized services, stopped the leak, and is continuing to monitor the site while determining root cause and replacing any defective equipment,” said the BCER, noting that it will be conducting follow up inspections.

According to the energy regulator, all leak reports are handled “quickly and effectively” should incidents like this occur.

“Upon leak detection, the operator activated their Emergency Response Plan, which included air monitoring, site access control measures, and notifying the six residences within the emergency response zone,” said the BCER.

An emergency response plan is an outline which, according to the BCER, ensures “permit holders meet all regulatory obligations through field inspections, engineering assessments, and the planning, training, and exercising of emergency response.”

The energy regulator says no gas was detected off-site, and it will continue to investigate the cause of the leak.