An upgrade project by Columbia Gas in a Washington County township resulted in an explosion Wednesday that destroyed a home and injured multiple people, including firefighters. The gas company took responsibility for the disaster and has set up a hotline for damage claims.
This is far short of enough.
Columbia Gas must halt its work, not only in Washington County, but in its entire service area until the utility can put a definitive finger on the flaw in its system — not just determining exactly what went wrong in this particular case, but an assessment of why it went wrong and the likelihood of it happening somewhere else.
Mike Huwar, president of Columbia Gas of Pennsylvania and Maryland, issued a prepared statement following the explosion: “Our customers deserve safe and reliable delivery of natural gas to their homes. We failed to deliver on our mission in this instance, and we are deeply sorry.”
No doubt, on all counts. And Columbia is certain to be even more sorry when the lawsuits begin to be filed.
Columbia Gas has a steep hill to climb in proving that what happened on Park Lane in North Franklin won’t happen anywhere else.
The owner of the home had called Washington County 911, reporting an odor of natural gas on Wednesday afternoon. North Franklin firefighters responded, shutting off the gas to the home. Before they could get more than a few feet away, the home exploded.
Columbia had been working on gas line upgrades in the area.
Mr. Huwar explained that the home that was destroyed sits on a street that was not served by the line that was being upgraded. Other homes in the work area were equipped with a new pressure regulator in advance of activating the newly upgraded system. The home that was destroyed did not have the benefit of this new regulator.
Mr. Huwar said that when the gas was turned on within the new lines, there was elevated pressure. The lack of a pressure regulator resulted in a leak, which led to the explosion. Essentially, Columbia Gas thought the Park Lane home was far enough away from the work site that it didn’t need a new pressure regulator. Mr. Huwar said the company will “expand the geographic areas that are reviewed in detail before such a project is conducted.”
That begs the question as to the broadness of the expanded area and the sufficiency of the review moving forward.
The explosion on Wednesday rocked the neighborhood for a mile in all directions, according to news accounts. And it rocked the public’s confidence in Columbia Gas.
Pieces of the house were scattered in trees and buried in the ground. It is a miracle no one was killed and that injuries were not life-threatening.
North Franklin has demanded Columbia Gas cease all but the most necessary work within the township and the utility has agreed.
It mustn’t stop there. Columbia Gas was in the midst of modernizing its delivery system. That’s a good thing. But that kind of work must be suspended throughout its entire system until Columbia can show the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, as well as the public at large, that it has completed a forensic analysis of the disaster and has a plan in place that assures all it won’t happen again anywhere else.
First Published: August 7, 2019, 10:00 a.m.
Updated: August 7, 2019, 12:33 p.m.