State faults PGW in deadly Tacony explosion

State regulators on Thursday slapped Philadelphia Gas Works with a 334-count complaint alleging the utility failed to properly follow procedures in connection with a Jan. 18 explosion in Tacony that killed a 19-year-old PGW worker and injured five other employees.

The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission said PGW "failed to take required steps to minimize the danger of accidental ignition of gas" after its workers responded to a reported gas leak in the 6900 block of Torresdale Avenue.

The PUC says it is seeking the maximum fine of $500,000 against the utility.

The complaint says that PGW failed to shut off gas mains and electricity to the neighborhood in violation of its own policies. Fire investigators said the blast was triggered when built-up gas was sparked by the electronic pilot light of a furnace.

The explosion killed Mark Keeley, a PGW employee with less than one year's experience, as he was attempting to ventilate gas built up in the basement of a two-story rowhouse.

The PUC said Keeley, the son of a PGW employee, "was not trained in emergency response, was not qualified to perform the covered task of ventilation and was not being directly supervised for that task at the time of the explosion."

The blast destroyed the rowhouse, which contained a chiropractic clinic and two apartments. It flattened cars, shattered windows for blocks, and burned for two hours before being brought under control.

Five other utility workers were injured, three critically.

Many of the complaints in the 22-page document are multiple violations.

For instance, the PUC says that PGW failed to fix a faulty gas main valve it discovered six months earlier, and it was cited 172 times for each day the valve was inoperable. The valve was not implicated in the explosion, but emergency workers struggled to cut off the gas supply to the blaze after the explosion.

Drug, alcohol testing

The PUC cited the utility 70 times for failing to conduct postaccident drug testing and postaccident alcohol testing for each of the 35 PGW employees who were on site, which "could not be completely discounted as a contributing factor to the incident."

PGW would face a penalty of $3.3 million for all 334 counts if they were filed individually, but state law limits the penalties for a single incident to $500,000.