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Washington Gas faces potential fines over deadly Md. gas blast

Washington Gas Light Co. could face civil penalties tied to a 2016 gas explosion, as Maryland regulators probe the utility about long-standing plans to update equipment that might have prevented the deadly blast.

The Maryland Public Service Commission on Sept. 5 ordered the AltaGas Ltd. subsidiary to turn over information about a 10-year program to replace mercury service regulators, a piece of equipment that the National Transportation Safety Board determined was partly to blame for the disaster. The presence of the equipment in the complex — years after it was scheduled to be removed — raised questions about the replacement program, the commission's order said.

The commission gave the company 30 days to provide evidence about the program. In that time, Washington Gas must also make a case for why the utility should not be fined for failing both to replace the equipment on schedule and to allocate funds collected from ratepayers to cover the cost of the replacement process.

Washington Gas did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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The Aug. 10, 2016, natural gas explosion and fire at the Flower Branch apartment in Silver Spring, Md., killed seven people, sent 68 people to the hospital and damaged two buildings.
Source: Maryland Public Service Commission

The National Transportation Safety Board, or NTSB, traced the Aug. 10, 2016, catastrophe at the Flower Branch apartment complex in Silver Spring, Md., to a mercury service regulator in the complex's meter room. The failure of the regulator, which controls gas pressure, coupled with an unconnected vent line allowed gas to accumulate. This ultimately led to a blast and ignited a blaze that killed seven people, sent 65 residents and three firefighters to the hospital and damaged two buildings.

Washington Gas in 2003 committed to replacing 66,793 mercury service regulators over 10 years and received approval to spend $654,000 on the replacement program, the Maryland commission said in the Sept. 5 order to show cause. But the outcome of the program is unclear, according to the commission.

"The subsequent record ... does not reveal how or whether the company took any steps to remove mercury service regulators pursuant to its ten-year plan, which should have been completed in 2013," the commission said.

The regulators also ordered the utility to produce a response to the NTSB's findings on the probable cause of the blast within 30 days, noting that the commission's review of that response could lead to additional penalties.

"Taken as a whole, the NTSB's finding that [Washington Gas Light, or WGL] failed to connect the indoor mercury service regulator to the vent line (or discover the disconnection) may raise an issue of whether there has been a violation of [the Code of Maryland Regulations] or the provisions of WGL's tariff," the commission said.

"Depending upon WGL's response and the record developed subsequent to this response, the commission will examine whether WGL exercised reasonable care to protect the public safety as required by COMAR, and consider whether a civil penalty ... or any other remedy following future proceedings, is appropriate," the order added.

The commission told WGL to provide both a plan to implement five safety recommendations the NTSB issued in June and an evaluation of risks associated with implementation and plans to mitigate them.