Municipality of Chatham-Kent officials say at 4 a.m. this morning, monitoring equipment at 15 Erie Street North in Wheatley detected the presence of hydrogen sulphide gas.
That site was the scene of an August 26 explosion that damaged several buildings in the community’s downtown area.
Members of Chatham-Kent Fire Services, the provincial hazmat team, and Golder were at the scene and sent samples of the gas to lab facilities in Windsor for a full analysis.
Gas is still being detected at the site.
In addition, the Ontario Fire Marshal’s Office, Golder, provincial Ministry of the Environment Conservation and Parks and Chatham-Kent technical staff are also on scene.
Officials with gas detection equipment are continuing to monitor the perimeter of the evacuation zone. There has been no gas detected around the perimeter.
Currently the situation does not warrant any change in the evacuation area put in place in August, however, ongoing monitoring is taking place. The public will be notified should the situation change.
Anyone who smells gas should call 9-1-1.
