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TransCanada gas pipeline that burst in Manitoba was 50 years old

One of the evacuees shot video of the pipeline explosion from his home in Otterburne, Manitoba.

A natural gas pipeline that burst over the weekend, leaving 4,000 residents of southern Manitoba without heat for days, was 50 years old but believed to be in good condition, a TransCanada Corporation official said in a public briefing on Monday.

Karl Johannson, TransCanada executive vice-president of natural gas, told reporters and community members that the half-century-old pipeline had been well-maintained and that TransCanada held the highest standard for its pipelines, to ensure service and maintain public safety.

The pipeline was found to be in "very good condition" when it was inspected in 2009, he said. The assurance comes days after a natural gas pipeline burst about 50 kilometres south of Winnipeg on Saturday, leaving some 4,000 residents without heat as the province battles against extreme wind chill warnings.

"TransCanada takes this very, very seriously. This is what we do. We move natural gas in pipelines," Johannson said on Monday. "When we have a failure like this, especially on a day like this weekend when it is this cold, it deeply concerns and affects us.

"We build our pipelines so that they up and available for this time of the year."

[ Related: People in Manitoba try to keep warm after pipeline blast ]

TransCanada Corporation said crews were working to bypass the damaged section of their pipelines and were expected to have service fully restored by late Monday night.

Manitoba Hydro officials said they had 200 employees on standby, ready to enter affected communities and manually ensure power had been restored to every home once TransCanada reconnected the grid to its natural gas supply.

The recovery efforts have been slowed by an extreme wind chill working its way across the province.

Environment Canada has issued severe wind chill warnings across the province. The region affected by the natural gas outage is currently facing temperatures near -30 C and wind chill values between -40 and -45 C.

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Outages were first reported on Saturday, when an explosion occurred on a TransCanada natural gas pipeline near Otterburne, about 50 kilometres south of Winnipeg.

Some 4,000 residents spread across about 10 communities in the area have been left without heat for days, relying on friends, neighbours and community warming shelters for warmth. Temporary supplies of natural gas were shipped in to ensure power to critical sites and hospitals.

TransCanada, meantime, has been inspecting the pipeline. Johannson said the cause of the blast was still uncertain, but a full investigation would be held. It could take between seven and eight weeks to determine what caused the explosion.

Johannson said TransCanada routinely conducts fly-over inspections of their pipelines and also have monitors located inside the pipelines. The last time the company did a manual inspection of the affected pipeline was 2009, and they were found to be in good condition.

The company said it will make temporary adjustments to the flow of natural gas through its series of pipelines – they have three lines in Manitoba – to restore supply to the affected communities. A more permanent solution will need to be found in the summer.

TransCanada Corp. has become a recent fixture in the news over its pursuit to establish the Keystone XL pipeline from Alberta to the Texas coast.

A natural gas pipe burst isn’t great publicity for the company, as U.S. regulators consider whether to support the cross-border project. As Johannson says, however, such incidents are rare. Perhaps there is solace in that.

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