Medicine Hat methane detection vehicle returns to 10 neighbourhoods for follow-up sweep

A mobile methane detection vehicle is returning to 10 Medicine Hat neighbourhoods over two to three days to verify readings collected from the city's natural gas distribution system earlier this year, the City of Medicine Hat wrote on Facebook on Tuesday.

"The Mobile Guard methane detection vehicle is returning to select neighbourhoods over the next two to three days to verify and follow up on readings collected earlier this year," the city wrote in the post. "The vehicle may be seen driving local streets during the evening hours."

The neighbourhoods covered are Marlborough, Connaught, Crestwood, Southview, Norwood, Meadowlands, East Glen, Ross Glen, Turner and Taylor — the same areas surveyed when the city launched the initial sweep on June 22, which covered more than 7,000 natural gas services and 134 kilometres of gas lines.

The Mobile Guard is a vehicle-mounted unit manufactured by ABB that uses an anemometer to identify wind direction and a pump to sample air quality as it drives, according to a City of Medicine Hat news release issued April 27. The device measures methane levels, maps the location and severity of any readings, and can indicate whether detected methane is likely naturally occurring or coming from a pipeline. The vehicle is identifiable by equipment mounted on its roof and a Hetek Solutions decal.

Only when concerns are detected by either technology will trained staff be deployed to investigate further, the April release said.

Christy Garland, the city's manager of gas distribution, said earlier this year the city was pleased with results from mobile detection the previous year. "We're very happy with the results from the mobile detection last year and are able to free up valuable human resources to focus on maintaining the distribution system rather than walking on foot to inspect it," Garland said in the April 27 release.

The 2026 inspection program also included low-level aerial surveillance of 85 kilometres of high-pressure pipeline outside city limits and 23 kilometres of rural gas distribution mains, carried out by contractor Airborne Energy Solutions using laser-based remote sensing technology, the April release said.

Inquiries about the gas distribution inspection program can be directed to the Gas Distribution office at 403-529-8190.