Regular maintenance on the CINGSA facility near Bridge Access Road spurred a number of calls to the Kenai Fire Department and ENSTAR yesterday with callers reporting a strong natural gas smell.
ENSTAR spokeswoman Lindsay Hobson says what callers were smelling was not natural gas, as that is odorless, but the additive called mercaptan that is used to alert people to the presence of natural gas.
Hobson: “We were doing normal maintenance ans switching out the meter that controls that odorant which we call mercaptan and the change took about a couple of minutes to change out the meter and what motorists were noticing as they drove by the facility was the smell of that odorant being released into the air for a couple of minutes as they switched out the meters.”
She says the response by citizens means the mercaptan is doing its job.
Hobson: “People should continue to call but don’t be alarmed, the odorant itself is not harmful but it is certainly doing its job to alert people to call in the event of a gas leak, we don’t want people to make that judgement call. If they smell if they should still call and we can address it from there.”
To report a potential gas leak to ENSTAR, call 1-844-SMELL GAS (1-844-763-5542).