Canadian Police Probe EnCana Gas Pipeline Bomb Blast

By Alex Devine and Reg Curren

Oct. 15 (Bloomberg) -- An explosion that damaged an EnCana Corp. natural gas pipeline on the border between British Columbia and Alberta is being investigated as sabotage, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said.

The blast, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) east of Dawson Creek, left a 6-foot crater but didn't rupture the pipeline, operated by Canada's largest natural gas distributor. A hunter discovered the damage on Oct. 12, and the bomb probably went off the night before, police said yesterday in a Web site statement.

A local news outlet received a ``suspicious'' letter on Oct. 10, telling gas and oil companies to leave the area, police said. The bomb was set deliberately, and police suspect sabotage.

``We're working with the RCMP because it's a criminal matter,'' said Alan Boras, a spokesman for EnCana. ``Our main concern is the safety of employees, contractors and the general public.''

EnCana pipeline operators were able to depressurize the line after the hunter reported the damage and there was no release of gas, Boras said.

Dawson Creek is 890 kilometers northwest of Calgary.

To contact the reporters on this story: Alex Devine at Adevine3@bloomberg.net; Reg Curren in Calgary at rcurren@bloomberg.net.