Cause of natural gas-like smell Sunday in north Edmonton remains mystery

It’s official: No one yet ‘nose’ what caused an odour Sunday night on Edmonton’s north side that led to more than 100 complaints.

While the smell appears to be gone, its origin is still in question.

Edmonton Fire and Rescue Services issued a statement on the weekend asking residents to stop phoning 911 to report a natural gas-like smell. The fire department reported it received more than100 calls in a two-hour span on Sunday.

Atco, one of four major natural gas providers in Alberta, said in a statement its infrastructure was not a cause of the odour. It pointed instead to the Alberta Diluent Terminal owned by Keyera, a midstream oil and gas operator.

The facility on the east side of the North Saskatchewan River near the intersection of Yellowhead Trail and Anthony Henday Drive is used primarily to handle condensate for use as diluent, a thinning agent used in the pipeline transport of bitumen, in the oil sands sector.

A spokesperson for Keyera said the company, after investigating whether the terminal was the source of the smell, can't confirm the 42-acre terminal site was the source of it.

The Alberta Energy Regulator, the Crown corporation responsible for regulating the development of energy resources in the province, is investigating the cause of the smell.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Jeremy Thompson