The company building the 216 Street leg of a Langley Township water pipe line project that was shut down by WorkSafe BC says it follows strict safety standards.
In a written statement issued Thursday, Pedre Contractors Ltd. said the company has years of experience building major pipeline projects and follows procedures for working in confined spaces that exceed industry standards.
Pedre said WorkSafe has asked the company to clarify its procedures.
"They've requested clarity and we are in the process of responding to their request."
The Pedre statement said it was not a company representative who told WorkSafe that adding more hatches to the pipeline project (as WorkSafe has proposed) might breach the warranty, nor did the company say adding hatches could cause a risk of bacterial contamination in the water pipe.
The company did warn changing the design of the pipe would mean construction delays, the Pedre statement said.
Work on the pipeline was halted by the provincial workplace safety regulator on June 21.
Township water resources and environment manager Kevin Larsen told the Times the design of the pipeline followed "past industry practice" for design and construction.
The 14-kilometre-long East Langley Water Supply project is the biggest project ever undertaken by the Township of Langley’s engineering department.
Work started May 1 and is scheduled to run Monday to Friday until December of this year.