Underground gas leak unlikely cause of fatal Pennsylvania house blast
PLUM, Pa. (AP) — It is unlikely that natural gas seeped from an abandoned underground mine and caused a house explosion in western Pennsylvania last weekend that killed six people, state officials said Friday.
The state Department of Environmental Protection said its inspectors studied the coal seam in the area and found no shafts or bore holes near the house that exploded.
The agency did not say how far around the house the inspectors searched, but a department statement said they “determined the likelihood of an abandoned mine-related gas issue to be very low.”
The blast destroyed three structures and damaged at least a dozen others. The cause remains under investigation.
The development where the blast occurred is in the town of Plum, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) east of Pittsburgh. It is on abandoned mine land surrounded by shallow oil and gas wells, some of which are producing gas and some of which have been abandoned.
Authorities have said that the homeowners were having problems with their hot water tank and that was part of the investigation.
The department is looking for sources of combustible natural gas near the explosion site and is inspecting nearby natural gas-related equipment and sites. It said inspectors are taking daily readings for gases in the soil or in structures around the development.
Potential methane sources include landfills, sewer lines, wells, pipelines and coal mines, it said.
Related News
From Archive
- 27 pipeline safety violations tied to deadly Pa. chocolate factory explosion
- Fatal trench collapse in Mass. leads to $4.6 million OSHA penalty, dozens of violations
- OSHA investigates fatal trench collapse at Conroe construction site
- Final Lake Erie sewer tunnel project set to begin after decades-long $3 billion effort
- 11-mile Texas pipeline replacement upgrades 72-in. PCCP to 102-in. steel
- Alaska fiber buildout to expand broadband in rural communities
- 11-mile Texas pipeline replacement upgrades 72-in. PCCP to 102-in. steel
- Fatal trench collapse in Mass. leads to $4.6 million OSHA penalty, dozens of violations
- Texas811 launches real-time excavation detection to prevent utility strikes
- Race Communications breaks ground on Bakersfield fiber network
Comments