Greg Collins, owner of the Flinders Motel on Main, is concerned that the gas outage will affect the number of people staying at his motel. Picture: Noelle Bobrige
Source: News Corp Australia
WHYALLA residents have switched off their gas to guarantee supplies to their town’s hospital, as a ruptured pipeline leaves tens of thousands of people facing days without service.
Energy authorities could not say last night when supplies would be restored to Port Pirie and Whyalla, but repairs to the line are expected to take at least five says.
The shutdown has halted operations at Port Pirie’s Nyrstar smelter and could cost the state economy millions.
Emergency services were called to the pipeline rupture in a spur of the Moomba-to-Adelaide gas supply line, between the towns of Gladstone and Caltowie, about 5.30pm on Sunday.
Nine-and-a-half-thousand gas connections have been cut off since Sunday afternoon, 5500 of those in Port Pirie and 4000 in Whyalla, including homes and businesses.
APA Group, which operates and manages the SA natural gas supply, could not say exactly how many people were directly affected, because the 9500 connections ranged from single-occupancy units to major industries.
Saeid Safavi and his son Rafael, 6, at his cafe SaFAVI which no longer has a working kitchen. Picture: Noelle Bobrige
Epic Energy SA, which owns the pipeline, said customers should expect to be without gas for the next five days if no more ruptures were found.
Workers are excavating around 80m of pipeline to check for leaks, which will take two days if no other problems are found. It will take another two days to repair the rupture, thought to be caused by an earthquake.
Supplies to Whyalla Hospital had been saved when 1200 other customers were asked to shut off their supplies at the meter. “Gas supplies to Whyalla Hospital are continuing and there has been no disruption to current services,’’ SA Health said in a written statement.
It said emergency and inpatient services at Port Pirie Hospital were continuing as normal, but some elective surgeries have been cancelled.
Epic Energy SA said its crews were working around the clock to restore supplies.
Caffe Primo in Port Pirie had to close its doors because of the gas outage. Picture: Noelle Bobrige
“Port Pirie and Whyalla are served by the same lateral pipeline that runs off the Moomba-to-Adelaide gas pipeline, which is owned by Epic Energy,” it said in a written statement.
“Our engineers and staff’s assessment of the site began at first light this (Monday) morning and road closures remain in place.
“While we can confirm that it is a full pipeline rupture, we are still unable to speculate on the exact cause or exactly when gas supply will resume.”
Geoscience Australia data shows there was a 2.1 magnitude earth tremor, with an epicentre about 10km from where the leak was reported, about 5.20am on Friday.
Port Pirie smelter operator Nyrstar could not be sure what the economic impact of the shutdown would be, but a spokeswoman said about 75 per cent of the site was already wound down for scheduled plant maintenance. All production had now ceased.
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She said there had been no impact on employment as workers had been assigned to maintenance duties.
Port Pirie Regional Council chief executive Andrew Johnson said his city contributed $701 million to the South Australian economy each year, or $1.9 million a day.
Regional Development Australia spokesman for Whyalla and the Eyre Peninsula said the City of Whyalla’s contribution to Gross Regional Product was $1.4 billion each year, or around $4 million every day.
Tourism operators have already been affected by the shutdown. Port Pirie’s Flinders Motel on Main owner Greg Collins said guests were without hot water because of the outage.
“When people are travelling, the first thing they want to do is to be able to have a hot shower, but unfortunately I can’t offer them that,” he said.
“Not even I can have a hot shower at home.
“Everyone is affected and we’ll continue to be affected for the next few days.”
Cafe SaFAVI owner Saeid Safavi said he would likely lose more than $1000 a day because of the cut to Port Pirie’s gas supply.
“We can’t cook anything out of the kitchen,” he said.
“We’ve been able to serve people coffees, and wraps and salads, but other than that we’ve been limited.’’
Port Pirie Regional Mayor John Rohde said the council would work with the community to offer as much support as possible. “We want to be able to offer people as many services as we can, whether that’s offering the gas barbecues to cook on or shower facilities,” Mr Rohde said.
“Five days is a long time for people to go without hot water and gas for cooking.”
APA Group networks group executive John Ferguson said supply priority was being given to Whyalla Hospital. “All gas consumers are asked to turn off their gas supply valve at their meter,’’ he said.
“For the safety of the general public and APA workers, during this interruption it is stressed that gas consumers do not attempt to connect natural gas appliances to alternative gas supplies such as LPG bottled gas. To do so may result in a fire or explosion.”
APA Group representatives will be visiting all gas-connected properties to ensure gas meters are turned off prior to re-establishing supply and relighting appliances.
Anyone who finds themselves without gas should leave their gas meter turned off until an APA Group representative calls to turn gas back on.
For further information, residents can be make inquiries through the APA Group Natural Gas Emergency Hotline on 1800 898 220.
Port Pirie, Whyalla without gas after major rupture in pipeline
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