Fortis has shut off the natural gas lines to the homes in the evacuated Seawatch neighbourhood of Sechelt after an order from Technical Safety BC.
In the order, Technical Safety BC, an independent body that oversees safe installation and operation of technical systems and equipment across the province, said the gas needed to be shut off to “avoid or reduce the risk of personal injury or damage to property … due to identified land subsidence and geotechnical instability.”
Those conditions, the order said, have the “potential to damage existing infrastructure such as underground utilities, thereby creating gas leaks that could ignite, causing a fire or explosion. This could result in injuries, up to and including death, to any person that is within the vicinity.”
Technical Safety BC also said it will not lift the order until “it in can be successfully demonstrated, in advance, that the conditions that created the known hazards have been mitigated.”
According to the agency, Fortis completed the shut-off on Sept. 17 and contacted the impacted residents directly.
Rod Goy, who owns one of the affected properties and has been acting as a spokesman for a group of eight homeowners who filed lawsuits in August against the District of Sechelt, the developer and others, told Coast Reporter they’d like to thank Fortis for personally contacting them, which he said was more courtesy than they’ve been shown by either level of government since the evacuation.
“Of course the biggest concern will be the inability to heat their homes. I believe all the owners use natural gas furnaces and without them, we will be facing moisture and mould damage to our homes,” Goy said.
BC Hydro said it has no plans at this point to cut off electricity service to the area, and the Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) confirmed that the water is also still on.
A couple of months after the evacuation of the neighbourhood, both the SCRD board and Sechelt council voted to approve relief from 2019 utility fees and parcel taxes for the property owners.
The District of Sechelt also confirmed recently that it has contracted a local company to conduct the periodic drone flights over the evacuation zone at a cost of $300 for each flight, but would not disclose how many flights had been conducted or when.
Five of the homes at Seawatch were broken into in late August and early September.
Sunshine Coast RCMP have yet to make any arrests, but said they are going through security camera and drone footage in an effort to identify suspects.
