By Brittney Matejka

Twitter helps family living near Bow Island get government attention

Mar 22, 2018 | 5:29 PM

BOW ISLAND, AB. – The Timmons family received a welcomed phone call this week from the Minister of Environment & Parks office, an abandoned water well leaking gas outside their home is going to be properly closed.

Chantel Timmons found an unknown water well buried beneath her drive-way in October. It was leaking methane gas into her family’s home just outside of Bow Island, AB. and took to social media to get help and make her home safe again.

Timmons says she sent out a tweet every few weeks on Twitter to help bring attention to her family’s safety. Traditional channels of government contact were not working but she explained after a tweet she would receive a phone call, email or tweet back from different government agencies or officials.

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“It keeps them accountable,” she said. “A personal email or phone call isn’t something everyone is going to see, more people need to know and see.”

Timmons does not know when the well site will be safely closed but hopes it will happen this spring.