From the Montreal Gazette – March 7, 2011

by Brent Wittmeier

EDMONTON — A 24-year-old man is in critical condition after an explosion at a sweet gas well southwest of Edmonton.

The
explosion happened at about 11:30 a.m. on Monday at a Husky Energy site
near the hamlet of Robb, Alta., said Occupational Health and Safety
spokesman Barrie Harrison. There were no fatalities, Harrison said, and
OHS is investigating the incident.

An air ambulance
transported a 24-year-old man in critical condition to the University of
Alberta hospital, said spokesman Cam Heke. Other patients were also
transported to Edmonton via fixed wing aircraft and ground ambulance,
Heke said.

The RCMP reports 12 injuries, saying patients
were transported to hospital in nearby Edson, Alta., by ground
ambulance. Three were sent to a burn unit in Edmonton. The Edson Fire
Department extinguished the fire, and RCMP secured the scene, said
spokeswoman Doris Stapleton.

The incident was caused by a
flash fire, said Graham White, spokesman for Husky Energy. The injured
patients were contract employees.

White called it “an extremely rare” occurrence and said the company has sent an investigation team to the site.

The
men were preparing to fracture the well with propane, said Energy
Resources Conservation Board spokesman Bob Curran. Fracturing involves
sending high pressure liquids down a well bore to cause fissures in
dense rock, allowing trapped natural gas to escape into the well and be
pumped to the surface. Curran said it’s common to use propane in
fracking operations.

He said no natural gas was released in the explosion.

The site is approximately 40 kilometres southwest of Edson and 265 kilometres southwest of Edmonton.

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