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NW Natural restores gas to Hazel Dell and Felida

The Columbian
Published: December 9, 2009, 12:00am

Northwest Natural Gas Co. this afternoon restored service to homes and businesses in Northwest Vancouver that may have lost heat earlier today.

Natural gas compressors at the Jackson Prairie storage facility south of Chehalis failed around 6 a.m., causing pressure to fall in the company’s supply line to the Hazel Dell and Felida neighborhoods, according to NW Natural and Williams Northwest Pipeline Co.

Unusually cold weather overloaded the compressor at the same time delivery from another source was blocked — a rare combination of events that caused disruption in service, said Michele Swaner, a spokeswoman for Williams, which owns the storage facility with Avista Utilities and Puget Sound Energy.

Pressure was restored for about 75 percent of NW Natural’s affected customers by 10:30 a.m. and service was fully restored by 2 p.m., according to the utility.

The problem affected some Vancouver schools and forced the closure of Walnut Grove Elementary School. NW Natural is still unsure how many homes and businesses in the area were also affected.

"We recommend when people get home from work to check their natural gas appliance and make sure the pilots are still on," said Jenna Cooper-Gross, a spokeswoman for NW Natural.

Some appliances, such as a natural gas-fired furnace, will naturally shut off and turn back on in response to pressure changes, said Cooper-Gross. But some appliances, including water heaters, need the pilot flame to be re-lighted.

NW Natural has technicians on call to re-light pilots. For service, call NW Natural at 1-800-422-4012.

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