Mayor Mike Bernier was getting ready to lead the Canada Day parade through the streets of Dawson Creek, B.C., when a uniformed RCMP officer tapped his shoulder and told him there had been another explosion on an EnCana gas line.
It was the fifth time since last fall that Mr. Bernier had been given that kind of news - almost always on or near a civic holiday - and it sent a shudder through him. But he took a deep breath, kept a smile in place, and stepped to the front of the parade as if nothing had happened.
"Nobody had heard about the bombing yet," he said. "It was ten minutes before the parade started. So we went on with the event. It was business as usual, then we got down to finding out what was going on."
Mr. Bernier, interviewed yesterday afternoon while waiting for an RCMP briefing on the latest bombing to target EnCana's operations in northeastern British Columbia, said word about the attack spread overnight.
"I started getting calls this morning, and I am expecting more this afternoon," he said, "but, at this point, there's still not a lot I can tell people."
An EnCana Corp. employee investigating a pressure drop in a line at Pouce Coupe, just southeast of Dawson Creek, discovered what appeared to be blast damage to a wellhead on Wednesday morning.
Thursday, the RCMP's Integrated National Security Enforcement Team confirmed the rupture was caused by an explosion.
A police statement said there was a gas leak, but it presented "no immediate or imminent danger to the public," because a wide area had been contained while repairs were made.
A full forensic examination of the site by police experts was waiting until the wellhead had been sealed and stabilized.
The first attack on an EnCana pipeline occurred October 11th, when a site was damaged by a dynamite blast just a few days after a letter to a local media outlet threatened the oil and gas industry.
"We will not negotiate with terrorists which you are as you keep on endangering our families with crazy expansion of deadly gas wells in our home lands," stated the letter, which gave EnCana until noon, Oct. 11 to shut down its operations.
Other attacks have come Oct. 16, the week of Thanksgiving; Oct. 31, on Halloween, and one was discovered Jan. 4, but may have occurred closer to New Year's Day.
Mr. Bernier said there has been some conflict between land owners and the booming gas industry around Dawson Creek, but nothing that might explain the attacks on EnCana.
"We really can't figure out what this person is thinking," said Mr. Bernier. "It doesn't make sense. … EnCana has a really good relationship with this community. Anyone who has ever gone to them with a complaint will tell you that they try hard to work things out fairly."
Mr. Bernier said the attacks have raised concerns that sooner or later, someone will get hurt.
"That's the fear. We're talking about bombs being set on the edge of the city, where people go hiking and four-wheeling," he said.
EnCana media adviser, Rhona DelFrari, said the company has strived to have good relations in Dawson Creek, and the company doesn't have any theories on the bomber's motives.
"Everyone wants this to stop," she said. "We wish the person would come talk to us. We can't help resolve whatever the issue is if we don't know [what they are upset about]"
Ms. DelFrari said EnCana has increased security in the area since the first attack and that a $500,000 reward is still on offer. Meanwhile employees are being told to remain vigilant and report any suspicious activity to the RCMP.
Mark Hume