After months of discussion, federal safety officials and the Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission (PUC) remain at odds over release of documents that the National Transportation Safety Board says it needs for a building explosion investigation but PUC says it cannot legally release under state law.
The impasse relates to the NTSB’s investigation into a March 24 natural gas–fueled explosion and fire at the R.M. Palmer chocolate plant in West Reading.
The NTSB said the PUC refuses to provide unredacted inspection and investigation reports of UGI Utilities, Inc., the natural gas pipeline operator whose assets were involved in the gas explosion.
Consequently, the NTSB has issued a subpoena to the PUC to obtain the reports from UGI.
NTSB maintains that federal regulations expressly authorize the NTSB to inspect any records related to an accident investigation and obligate a party to an NTSB investigation to provide any requested information related to the accident or incident.
“By not providing the requested information to the NTSB, the PUC has not met its obligations as a party to the investigation as codified in federal law. The inability to access and review unredacted documents may compromise the accuracy and completeness of the investigation,” NYSB said in a statement.
Gas Leak From Bad Fitting Cited in Chocolate Factory Explosion Where 7 Died
However, PUC maintains that the state’s Public Utility Confidential Security Information Disclosure Protection Act (CSI Act) prohibits it from disclosing a public utility record that contains confidential security information. The utility says the records contain “extremely sensitive information, detailing key utility infrastructure along with threats, risks, and vulnerabilities” and that under the CSI Act there are no exceptions for investigative agencies – like the NTSB.
Instead, PUC says it has offered NTSB options for inspecting the original unredacted reports at the PUC’s Harrisburg office or signing a nondisclosure agreement, as provided for under state law. But PUC says the NTSB has refused – “demanding instead that they be given copies of the full unredacted internal, nonpublic reports.”
The matter has been referred to the Pennsylvania attorney general to represent the PUC as a public agency.
More than 100 Palmer employees were working in two adjacent buildings at the time of the March 24 blast. The explosion killed seven people, leveled one of the buildings and damaged the other. Employees told federal investigators they could smell gas before the explosion.
Wrongful Death Suit Claims Chocolate Factory Ignored Warning Before Deadly Blast
UGI Corp. provided natural gas to the factory complex. UGI has said there wasn’t any utility work going on in the area, and it detected no sudden surge in gas usage before the explosion.
Investigators believe natural gas may have leaked from a defective fitting at the factory. Buy they are still looking into the cause of the blast.
A lawsuit has been filed accusing the candy-maker of ignoring warnings of a gas leak, The lawsuit also names UGI.
The leak was traced to a gas fitting that was installed in 1982 and had a known tendency to crack. Safety investigators said that UGI replaced a service line in 2021, but kept the1982 service tee.
Photo: In this screen grab from video provided by WPVI-TV/6ABC, smoke rises from an explosion at the R.M. Palmer Co. plant in West Reading, Pa., Friday, March 24, 2023. (WPVI-TV/6ABC via AP)
Topics Pennsylvania Manufacturing
Was this article valuable?
Here are more articles you may enjoy.
The Battle Over J&J’s Bankruptcy Plan to End Talc Lawsuits 
Commercial Lines Not at Top of Cycle; ‘Thieves’ Fuel Social Inflation: CEOs 
Reinsurers’ Appetite Grows During Mid-Year Renewals but Discipline Remains: Brokers 
Marsh McLennan Agency to Acquire The Horton Group 
