Philadelphia Gas Works faces lawsuit related to 2019 gas pipe leak, explosion

Municipally owned gas utility Philadelphia Gas Works Co. and the city of Philadelphia, along with several other entities, are facing a lawsuit related to a December 2019 gas pipeline leak and explosion that killed two people and damaged several buildings.

The lawsuit, filed Nov. 17 with the Philadelphia County's Court of Common Pleas by the family of one of those killed, charged Philadelphia Gas Works with three counts of negligence, one count of survival action and one count of wrongful death. The plaintiffs alleged that the gas utility was aware of the state of its "century-old iron pipes like the one that cracked then detonated" in South Philadelphia in 2019, according to a Nov. 18 news release from the plaintiffs' legal representatives.

The plaintiffs argued that the defendants failed to prioritize the replacement of aging pipeline infrastructure and did not adequately take into account the concerns of experts and regulators related to pipeline leaks, among other safety allegations.

Safety concerns over Philadelphia Gas Works' aging system have long been in the spotlight. Pennsylvania regulators in September 2018 had asked the gas utility to accelerate its efforts to replace high-risk pipe and curb leaks on its system.

The lawsuit asked for a jury trial and for compensatory and punitive damages.

"PGW regularly monitors, inspects and maintains our system and administers leak response 24/7. We investigate every odor call we receive and conduct maintenance, whenever needed," a Philadelphia Gas Works spokesperson said in a Nov. 19 email. "Prior to the Dec. 19[, 2019,] incident, PGW received no recent calls from the area reporting gas odors. PGW also had no recent street opening work in the area since March of 2015."

Philadelphia Gas Works said it cannot comment further on the pending litigation but noted that it invests $85 million yearly into infrastructure to replace vintage gas mains. The utility added that it intends to continue cooperating with pipeline safety regulators throughout the investigation of the explosion.