A Dented Pipeline in Canada
Whether it was terrorism or some other form of statement – the Mounties call it “an isolated criminal act – the bombing of a natural gas pipeline in British Columbia shows the difficulty of protecting far-flung facilities like pipelines from attack.
Whoever placed the apparent bomb was for real. It produced a crater six feet across and four feet deep but, very fortunately, only dented the pipeline. A moosehunter who discovered the crater said it wasn’t there the day before. And the location is at a point where the pipeline emerges from underground.
A Royal Canadian Mounted Police spokesperson said the apparent blast occurred the day after a letter was received by a media outlet warning oil and a gas companies to stop production and leave the area around Dawson Creek, B.C.
We keep planning to deter – and at the same time hope against – such attacks. But, sadly, they occur. Stay vigilant.