Vandalism to BC Hydro transformers causes oils spills and outages
NORTH VANCOUVER, CANADA -- BC Hydro crews are trying to find the person behind a string of acts of vandalism targeting power transformers in North Vancouver.
Four pad-mounted transformers around Northlands Golf Course seem to have been deliberately damaged since early April, leading to power outages, oil spills, and even causing transformers to explode.
"It has to be a deliberate act, because the effort that would go into trying to cut into the bottom of one of these transformers is fairly significant, it's not that somebody could casually walk by and interact with it and cause damage," CityNews1130 cites Johnny Knowles with BC Hydro.
"There's no indication that there is any attempt to steal anything inside the transformer, so that tells me it is just deliberate, wanton vandalism," added Knowles.
The equipment is not only expensive to fix, but also extremely dangerous.
Knowles says whoever is targeting the boxes is cutting into the base of the transformer and spilling the mineral oil inside, which generally causes the equipment to trip and shut off.
"But if the equipment didn't trip for any reason, then it creates a lot of heat, and that mineral oil can set on fire, and there can be an explosion in the transformer box, so significant present danger to members of the public nearby," he says.
Source: BC Hydro; CityNews1130
