Whittier residents now have access to natural gas after a pipeline failure forced the local utility to temporarily shut off service.
A boater on the Twentymile River smelled gas Aug. 9 near an underwater section of pipeline, according to Enstar Natural Gas Company. Enstar said about a week later that the pipeline had deteriorated to the point that the gas flow to Whittier, a community of about 250 people on Prince William Sound, had to be shut down to make repairs.
The utility secured a temporary supply of liquefied natural gas and some specialized equipment from Edmonton, Alberta, Enstar spokeswoman Harley Hedlund said. A container with LNG and a trailer with the equipment crossed the U.S.-Canada border on Thursday and arrived in Portage, where it was connected to a line supplying Whittier on Friday, she said.
“That was roughly 2,000 miles to get to Alaska,” Hedlund said.
Crew members had restored natural gas service to all Whittier customers by Sunday, Hedlund said. The temporary supply should last until the pipeline is fixed, she said.
Hedlund described the coordinated response between Enstar, the City of Whittier and state and federal partners to restore gas service in a short time period as “extraordinary.”
“Teams were securing the liquefied natural gas supply and the specialized equipment to turn that into usable natural gas, transporting that equipment from Canada, preparing Enstar’s system to accept the temporary LNG, coordinating the permitting and access, restoring customers individually and advancing that permanent pipeline repair,” Hedlund said.
“There was a lot going on at the same time and in lockstep,” she added.
Permanent repairs to the pipeline are expected to wrap up by mid-September, Hedlund said.
