City of Delta Mayor George V. Harvie has released a statement on Fortis BC’s response to a gas odour that residents across Delta experienced on Tuesday afternoon.
“It is unacceptable that Delta residents and businesses were left in the dark about a very serious gas odour that spread throughout Delta earlier today. It took Fortis BC over four hours after initial reports before they made a public statement. Delta Police and Delta Fire were bombarded with calls about the odour and Delta Fire crews attended to each of these calls to ensure there was no on-site gas leak. The failure of Fortis BC to communicate this gas odour leak had a serious impact on our emergency services whose resources should be dedicated to real emergencies.
“This is an egregious oversight by Fortis BC, who have a responsibility to inform the public about any leaks or deficiencies. The stress and panic that this incident caused to both the public and our first responders was completely unnecessary. That is why I have asked our City Manager to conduct a full review into what caused the gas odour leak and why it took over four hours for Fortis BC to inform anyone about it. Fortis BC must be accountable for their delay in response causing confusion and alarm in our community.”