Two line breaks in the same pipe 15 kilometers apart on a remote section of TransCanada PipeLine’s Nova system Monday and Tuesday have shut down the 36-inch pipeline, impacting a number of customers. There were no reports of injuries in the resulting fires.

A TransCanada spokeswoman said emergency procedures, both remote and manual, were initiated to shut off the damaged pipe, and a team of company officials are at the scene to investigate. The sites of the blasts are in a fairly remote area of northern Alberta about 90 and 110 km southeast of Grande Prairie.

The first break at 5:45 p.m. MST Monday occurred about 30 km southwest of the community of Little Smokey. The second blast came at 7 a.m. MST Tuesday approximately 20 km southwest of the communities of Valleyview and the Sturgeon Lake First Nation.

“The extent of the damage to our system has not yet been determined,” a TransCanada announcement said. Some shippers were impacted as a result of Monday’s break; however, there are no further impacts as a result of the second incident. Deliveries of gas to local communities have not been impacted as a result of either incident, the company said.

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