(The Center Square) – Groups of terrified and crying friends and workers stood on debris-strewn streets, clutching each other for support. Who was dead and who was alive was still not known. Bluish flames spewed from the rubble of the building that had just exploded.
That was the scene in a working-class neighborhood in West Reading, Pennsylvania, on March 24, 2023, soon after the explosion of an R.M. Palmer chocolate factory building. Ultimately, it was determined that seven people had been killed.
On Wednesday in the state Capitol, the aftermath of the tragedy continued to play out.
The state House voted unanimously to pass a bill that would eliminate “bureaucratic gray areas” in state law that led to a bizarre governmental squabble six months after the explosion. The state Public Utility Commission refused to turn over documents tied to the incident sought by investigators from the federal National Transportation Safety Board.
That refusal led the NTSB to remove the PUC as a party to its investigation and to the issuance of a subpoena.
“Our federal and state agencies, like the National Transportation Safety Board, need immediate, unhindered access” to information during investigations, Rep. Johanny Cepeda-Freytiz, the bill sponsor, said on the House floor on Wednesday. The factory was in the Berks County district of Cepeda-Freytiz, a Democrat.
The PUC refusal was tied to Pennsylvania Act 156 of 2006, which enabled the commission – which oversees utilities across the state – to refuse to share inspection reports because they contained confidential security information.
Ultimately, the NTSB determined that natural gas had migrated below-ground from a degraded piece of the natural gas-supplying system into the basement of the factory building, as well as other locations.
The NTSB also found that the degrading of the part was exacerbated by higher-than-normal ground temperatures in the area. These were caused by a leak from a nearby, corroded steam pipe.
And, it found that the law behind Pennsylvania’s “One Call” system for knowing the location of underground assets did not include steam pipes that cross public right-of-ways.
The PUC came to the same conclusion about the cause in its own investigation. Earlier this year, it filed a complaint against UGI Utilities, the natural gas provider at the site.
The complaint alleged multiple violations of the state Public Utility Code, PUC regulations, and federal pipeline safety standards. It sought $2,576,627 in civil penalties, which PUC described as the maximum amount permitted by law.
The bill that passed the House Wednesday will now go to the Senate for consideration.
Three other bills that emerged from the aftermath of the explosion – all sponsored by Cepeda-Freytiz – previously passed the House in bipartisan fashion.
One would require the installation of natural gas alarms in businesses, homes and other buildings with natural gas service; a second seeks to require the owners of underground steam pipelines to register the location of those assets; and the third would require PUC to work with natural gas pipeline operators on programs to address potential threats to degrading plastic pipelines.
All three bills are awaiting action in the Senate Consumer Protection & Professional Licensure Committee.
