NSW Police, Fire and Rescue NSW and SES have joined gas supplier Jemena to assist in re-connecting parts of Central Western NSW to the gas supply network, following a disruption to the main Young-Lithgow pipeline that has left thousands of residents without gas for cooking or heating.
Since the Young-Lithgow pipeline was reported damaged last Wednesday, more than 200 personnel, including volunteers, have assisted with the ‘make safe’ process.
Yemena has advised that the networks will be returned in a systematic way and may mean that some that some customers come back on-line before others.
Pipeline valve reconfiguration has allowed gas to be resupplied to parts of Bathurst, with around 50% of customers returned to the gas network. On current estimates, all Bathurst residents should have gas supply back in their homes and businesses in approximately one week, NSW Police said in a statement.
For residents of Oberon, vulnerable customers have been prioritized, while other customers had their ‘make safe’ inspections completed yesterday, in preparation of the gas system coming back online in the coming weeks, Police said,
For residents of Lithgow, more than 75% of customers have had their ‘make safe’ inspections completed. The Australian Pipeline Authority (APA) have a compressed natural gas tanker arriving at Lithgow Hospital and expect to have the hospital gas lines on-line today.
Preparations for residents of Wallerawang are also said to be well advanced, with a ‘make safe’ operation completed last night.
Crews are also well advanced in restoring gas to home and businesses in Raglan, White Rock and Kelso.
It’s expected temporary gas supply should be online for Oberon, Wallerawang and Lithgow early next week, following which Yemena crews will commence reconnection activities which is expected to take approximately a week.
As part of making the gas pipeline network safe and returning to normal gas supply, Yemena has advised residents of the Central West that they may see an occasional flame burn ignite from gas burners. This is all part of the normal process of ensuring air is cleared from gas lines before re-instating gas supply, the company said.
Yemena Gas undertake a full risk assessment prior to lighting the burner and have their own safety protocols in place, including staff on site with extinguishers and gas detection equipment, it said.
Members of the public affected by the gas outage can stay up to date with the latest information via www.jemena.com.au/outages-and-faults/gas and https://www.apa.com.au/gas-supply -update/.
