$990,000 civil penalty filed against Columbia Gas, 4 years after house was destroyed in explosion

NORTH FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP, Pa. — This week marked four years since a Washington County home was leveled in a gas explosion.

PHOTOS: House explosion in Washington County

“I couldn’t believe it,” said Bill Hoyt, who lives mere feet from where the home on Park Lane, in North Franklin Township, blew up.

“There was debris from her house clear out to Senior Hill,” Hoyt said, vividly recalling the day. “There was debris all over. I think her front door was up in my yard here.”

Columbia Gas accepted blame for the July 31, 2019 explosion, saying it failed to include the Park Lane home on maps for a gas line improvement project.

The oversight ultimately led to that house blowing up and several others suffering damage, including Hoyt’s.

“The garage door blown in, the basement door, the deck door, and the windows here were all pushed in,” he said.

The damaged and destroyed homes have all been rebuilt and repaired, but after years of investigating, Thursday, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission imposed a $990,000 civil penalty against Columbia Gas as part of an agreement reached by utility regulators and the gas company.

The agreement also calls for enhanced training for Columbia’s employees and improved mapping protocols for work on gas lines, among other safety measures.

In response to the settlement, a Columbia Gas spokesperson released a statement reading, in part, “This revised joint settlement reinforces our focus on operational excellence and commitment to system maintenance and modernization. We are confident that the enhanced procedures, training, and safety practices we have implemented will enable us to continue to maintain the safe operation of our system for our customers in North Franklin Township and across our Pennsylvania service territory.”

Communications Manager Lee Gierczynski went on to say, “We thank the community of North Franklin Township for its patience and understanding throughout this process, and we will continue to work to earn the trust and confidence of our customers there by delivering on our mission to provide safe and reliable energy solutions to meet their needs.”

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