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WHITBY FREE PRESS, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23.1985, PAGE 3 i Dead, 4 Injured In Gas Lme Blast By SUSAN LESJAK Free Press Staff A major Transcanada Pipelines Ltd. natural gas line exploded just north of Oshawa Thur- sday, killing one man and injurîng four others. Durham ,Regional Police said the ex- plosion occurred about 2:13 p.m. when a drainage contractor, hired by dairy farmer Norman Guy to lay un- derground drainage tile, accidentally cut the 51- centinietre steel pipe. The blast killed Donald Douglas Wright, .33, of Bethany, Ont., the father of two young Schools To Compete In Clean-up? By SUSAN LESJAK Free Press Staff A local residents con- cern about the litter defacing .Whitby's parklands and ravines has led hlm to propose an all-town cleanup campaign. The plan, dubbed "Whitby Facelift '861, would involve the joint effort of the municipallty and the ý public and separate school children of Whit- by. The campaign's initiator, Tom Qîdman, is asking that the town set aside a day next spring in which local achools would compete wîth each other to collevt the garbage in the town's 1200 acres of parkland and 300 acres of wilderness and ravine spaces. The plan, suggested Oldnan, could be a fund-raising campaign with the school that collected the most gar- bage receiving a cash 1prize. The funding for the campaign would come from the sponsor- 1ship of local residents. IWhile the details haven't been finalized, Qîdman has proposed that pledges be collec- ted by the children for the garbage on a per poundage basis. The competitive fund- raising element of the campaign will provide an mncentive for the students to participate in the dlean-up as weil as instili in them a sense of respect for their en- vironrnent, explained Qîdman. The plan, presented to the operations commit- tee of council two weeks ago, was greeted with enthusiasm by coun- cillors. While the details have yet to be ironed out, the committee members were unanimous in ap- plauding Qîdmans ef- forts and encouraged him to pursue his proposaI in the schools. Right now, Qîdman is ý iooking for volunteers to help him organize his children and co-owner of Walker-Wright Drainage Ltd. of Lin- dsay. The injured include three construction workers and one Tran- scanada Pipelines representative. Graham Duff, 33, of Blackstock is in fair condition in Wellesley Hospital; ýKevin Brazier, 24, of Lindsay, in Oshawa Hospital and Joseph Peeters, 22, of Omemee, who was released after treatment in Oshawa. Transcanada Pipelines employee Paul Burkholder, 59, of Markham was also released after treat- ment. Helen Powell, a neighbour, said she was walking her dog toward Guy's field when the ex- plosion occurred. "It was just roaring,'" Powell said. "You couldnt have heard yourself talk. I turned and ran as soon as I saw it.'" Moments later, Helen Powell and her husband Vern, saw a badly bur- ned man run toward their house. The man was in shock and had severe burns alI over his body. Paul Phillips, who saw the explosion from five kilometres away in Brooklin, said he tried to get dloser to offer help but the heat burned his face when he was stili 400 metres from the Fed by the gas drainage from 30 kilometres of pipeline, the fire burned steadily until after 6 p.m., leaving only burned silvers of trees and smoldering ash in an area of 65 square metres. Two pieces of tiling equipment were melted and there was a crater 2.5 metres deep and nine metres across. Transcanada spokes- man John Watkinson said the injured Tran- scanada employee had been supervising the crew when the explosion occurred. Asked if the line on the farm had been located before excavation began, Roy Walker, the other owner of the com- pany said he thought that it had. Investigators from several levels and bran- ches of govemrnment comnbed the site of the explosion Friday for dlues to what had caused Thursday's disaster. Oshawa coroner, Dr. C.E. McIlveen said a coroner's jury was ap- pointed on the evening of the fire and were at the sight Friday for over two hours. A coroner's inquest has tentatively been scheduled for early February. Also at the scene were representatives from the Ontario Ministry of Labor, the Transcanada Pipelines Ltd. and the Burned slivers of trees and smoldering ash were ail that remained of farmer Norman Guy's field after a natural gas line burst into flames Thursday near Simcoe St. and the Si"th Concession, north of Oshawa. Free Press Staff Photo Durham Regional Police. The welter of safety acts, energy policies and other regulations governing work around the pipeline, however, makes it impossible to hazard a guess as' to the direction the in- vestigations might take. The explosion is "the first of its kind (in- volving a fatality) in the companys history,' said Watkinson. VIY SUNI OURGR ATSAL CE'NTINUESI I . ~ O N A MPARGEI.TCKSEECTIO $4 * BL ROL AJAXOL I (.OR onS. !H 401) P tdPs lz " 5 7 9 1 6 5R8 6 0 79L3 1 4 48R 0 *, I SUN--- - - - - - -- -- IT'S. DIXIE LEFS 20th YEAR AND WERE CELEBRATING BY OFFERING YOU...