5/17/2002 11:25:30 AM

Wednesday's Duke Energy gas leak behind Edgewood Mobile Home Park had some
residents questioning evacuation and emergency procedures.

"A bunch of people were standing around, and no one was telling them what to do," said Sherry Gabert, owner of Race Trac Gas in the Edgewood Mobile Home Court. "We were evacuated around 4 p.m., and when we left there was traffic lined up and not moving."

Gabert said evacuation efforts did not run as smoothly as reported.

"I didn't think it was orderly," she said. "It was just about half an hour
before the fire truck showed up."

According to lead investigator, Art Nordholm, with the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB), the leak occurred somewhere between 3 and 3:15 p.m.

Gabert said she saw a big cloud of smoke coming from the leak site, and on the nearby train overpass, a freight train had driven through the smoke.

"I was perturbed because they said they stopped the trains," Gabert said. "I saw a train go right through a cloud of smoke."

John Turner, spokesman for Duke Energy, said the company was pleased with the emergency response.

Jim Eglinski, Fort St. John director of protective services and emergency
operations co-ordinator, said the gas leak took place outside of the City of
Fort St. John's jurisdiction.

"We opened the emergency operations centre to be of assistance to Taylor, the Edgewood Mobile Home Court and Duke Energy," he said.

Ed Gardner, who lives within 800 metres of the leak site, said he saw the
smoke while driving on the highway and immediately called the police. He
said he was concerned that Baldonnel Elementary School buses continued
running, and due to his work experience in the oil and gas industry he
headed to the school and helped principal Michael Bourcet evacuate.

"Gas clouds were coming right toward the school," Bourcet said. "It was
mostly his action that resulted in us leaving."

Bourcet said an emergency response team arrived once he returned to the
school and helped him direct the buses and notify parents. He said the
response was quick, arriving within 10 minutes.

However, Gardner said he was concerned with the amount of time it took
authorities to evacuate the area surrounding the leak.

"I never got a call to be evacuated, and I have call display," he said. "If
people were evacuated within three-kilometres of the site then what were the police doing so close to it directing traffic."

RCMP Cpl. Jim Pletz stated Wednesday that people were evacuated by going door-to-door.

Gardner, who worked in the oil patch for over 25 years, said the public must be better educated about oil and gas safety issues, since many people don't know what action to take when faced with such an emergency.

Investigators from the National Energy Board (NEB) and the TSB, started
their investigation on Thursday.

Nordholm confirmed the leak was sour gas, and the pipe in question had
broken. However, he said at this point an investigation could take months.

"We're in the field phase," he said. "We have to gather facts and put
together the pieces of the puzzle."

Nordholm said the broken pipe has to be sent to a lab for metallurgical
testing to determine the actual cause of the break.

Josef Kopec, the investigating pipeline engineer with the NEB, said their
board investigates the root cause of the accident and looks at the response
of the company. He said the NEB tries to determine if the company is in
compliance with regulations and has safe operating practices.