Warrenton Outage
Columbia Gas of Virginia continues to coordinate with officials from the town of Warrenton and the Fauquier County Fire and Rescue System. We are committed to safety of the community and will continue to work with our local partners throughout this process and beyond.
Columbia Gas will likely again resume flaring operations in Warrenton later this evening. This process allows us to lower the levels of odorant, or mercaptan, in our system in a safe and efficient manner. This is a routine procedure in which natural gas is burned off the system in order to ensure the safety of our infrastructure.
Here’s what you can expect:
- The flaring will likely resume later this evening after 7 p.m. and, if operations commence, would wrap up before 6 a.m. on Tuesday, March 11.
- You may see a flame in the area and may also detect the odor of natural gas/mercaptan, which smells like rotten eggs, as the flaring takes place.
- Drivers traveling through the area may encounter Columbia Gas work zones. You are asked to exercise caution; be prepared for slowed or temporarily stopped traffic; observe posted signs and obey road crew flaggers.
We will continue to actively monitor our natural gas systems and leverage advanced leak detection technology that allows us to identify and prioritize potential leaks on our natural gas delivery system more quickly and efficiently, with Columbia Gas inspectors following up on any indications that may be found.
Mercaptan
Mercaptan is an organic and naturally occurring compound. Because natural gas is odorless and colorless, utility companies add mercaptan as a safety measure to give natural gas its characteristic rotten egg odor. Federal regulations require natural gas companies to odorize natural gas. The amount of mercaptan added to natural gas is very small, but even a small amount of the compound can create a strong smell. The small amount of mercaptan in natural gas is not hazardous to human health.
If you need assistance with your natural gas service:
- Columbia Gas crews are performing safety checks, and relighting natural gas appliances for all affected customers. If you don't have natural gas service and have not reported the outage to us, please contact us at 1-800-543-8911 to let us know.
- For customers who are not home at the time when our technicians arrive to assist, door hangers will be left informing them of the outage and requesting they call Columbia Gas at 1-800-543-8911 for a service technician to be dispatched to restore service to their homes or businesses.
What causes an outage?
Natural gas outages can occur when gas lines are damaged or when work is being done in your area. Should an outage occur, we’ll take the following steps to ensure your safety:
- Shut off service. Our crews will shut off gas service for all customers in the affected area.
- Complete repairs. We will make necessary repairs on the natural gas main and service lines.
- Restore service. We will visit each customer's home to perform a safety check and restore natural gas service.
Your safety is important to us
To ensure quick and safe restoration after an outage, please note the following:
- Our crew will need access into every impacted home or business to conduct safety checks and restore service.
- An adult (18 years or older) must be present to allow our employees to restore service. If you need to leave your home, please leave your contact information with a neighbor or on your door.
- Keep your porch light on until your gas service is back on. It helps our crews determine if your gas service is on or off from the road.
- Our employees and representatives carry a photo ID and will be happy to show it to you upon request.
- Think you smell natural gas? 1. STOP what you are doing. 2. LEAVE the area immediately. 3. CALL 911 then Columbia Gas from a safe location. Learn more about natural gas safety.
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See how we restore service after an outage
View Transcript
While you're using hot water, cooking and warming your home, we're working behind the scenes to provide you safe and reliable service. While we make every effort to minimize interruptions, they can happen and temporarily leave you without service. Sometimes these outages are planned and sometimes they're unplanned.
For planned work, we'll try to notify you in advance about outages, which are a necessary and important part of upgrading our system and general maintenance. During an unplanned outage, we are committed to keeping you informed. Please check your email, our website or social media accounts for updates. Remember to keep your contact information current so we can reach you.
Unfortunately, restoring service isn't as simple as flipping a switch. First, our technicians must go meter-to-meter to temporarily shut off service at each home or business. Then, we'll complete repairs and restore the flow of natural gas in our system. Next, our technicians will go door-to-door to restore service to each customer. All Columbia Gas employees and contractors wear a company-issued ID badge with their photo on it. We'll need clear access inside your home to perform a safety check of your natural gas appliances. We complete these inspections because of our commitment to safety, so do not attempt to restore natural gas service on your own. We'll continue to make repeated visits through the area until service is restored to all customers.
With any work, challenges may arise and we may not be able to restore service. If this happens, we'll notify you and explain the next steps. Please note, if one of your appliances fails our safety check, we cannot relight it. And, we cannot restore service to your home or business if we find a leak in your piping. If you're not home when we come to restore your service, we'll leave a tag behind prompting you to call us to schedule your safety inspection and service restoration as soon as possible. We want to keep you safe and warm, so we'll make every effort to restore your service as quickly as possible.
Contact us
If you have special needs or medical concerns regarding an outage, please contact us at 1-800-543-8911.