22 February 2011

Contact Energy supplies LPG through pipelines and bottles to Christchurch and other areas affected by the 22 February earthquake.

We have had reports of gas leaks and are preparing to shut off the gas supply as a precaution..

Consumers should also turn off all gas appliances and their gas mains if they can locate them.

Pipeline reticulation customers whose premises have been damaged, or who have any concerns about a possible leak or damage to appliances, are advised to follow these steps:

1. Open doors and windows, especially if they smell gas.
2. Turn off the LPG supply to the premises, by turning off the tap that is next to the LPG meter, attached to the premises or on the boundary near the road.
3. Contact our call centre on 0800-427345

Customers who are supplied LPG from large (45kg) bottles attached to their premises should check the bottles to ensure they are not damaged. If customers have any concerns, they should turn the bottle off using the tap at the top of the bottle.

Electricity – Customers should consider any downed lines as live and avoid contact with them.

Orion networks operates the power lines which supply electricity to Contact customers. Contact customers should follow any instructions from Orion staff, civil defence or emergency services. Orion estimates that electricity is down across 80 per cent of Christchurch, although there are pockets of Hornby and Riccaton that still have power.

Orion should have a better idea of when power can be restored by 5pm this afternoon, and we will advise as soon as we have further information.

ENDS

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Gordon Campbell: On Failures Of Care For Those With Mental Disabilities

Hard to imagine a more disturbing insight into the treatment of the vulnerable than the Health Ministry report on Te Roopu Taurima o Manukau. The Ministry has found that the country’s only kaupapa Maori intellectual disability residential care provider has been “seriously dysfunctional.”

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