The National Transportation Safety Board has kicked the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission out of its investigation of a March factory explosion in Berks County that killed seven people, and a disagreement between the federal and state agencies is headed to federal court.
The chair of the federal agency told PUC Chairman Stephen M. DeFrank in letter Monday that PUC will “no longer be a party participant in the investigation” of the March 24 natural gas explosion that destroyed part of the R.M. Palmer chocolate factory in West Reading. It also said it had issued a subpoena to the PUC.
The blast shattered a working-class neighborhood with many Spanish-speaking residents and is one of a number of explosions of structures across the state in recent years. Those include the Aug. 12 home blast in Plum that killed six people.
That investigation is being led by the Allegheny County fire marshal and includes the PUC.
The federal agency said that in the West Reading blast, PUC violated the terms of a “party” agreement that typically governs disaster investigations, by not providing un-redacted inspection and investigation reports of UGI Utilities Inc.
UGI supplied natural gas to the factory. NTSB previously said natural gas was leaking from a piece of gas service infrastructure installed in the chocolate factory in 1982.
In a response issued late Monday, the PUC said the documents sought by the NTSB are considered “confidential security information” under a state law, and that it gave the NTSB options for viewing the documents that the federal agency refused.
The PUC said it has referred the matter to the state attorney general’s office to represent the agency and to defend the state’s law on confidential security information.
“This is a unique situation where a federal agency is demanding that the PUC violate state law,” the PUC statement said.
State Sen. Judy Schwank, a Democrat whose Berks County district includes the blast site, said she spoke with Mr. DeFrank Tuesday morning. The disagreement between the NTSB and PUC is headed for U.S. District Court, Ms. Schwank said.
“The bottom line for me and my community is we need answers sooner rather than later,” Ms. Schwank said. “The most important thing is that the investigation is thorough and that we can come to an understanding of what happened.”
The best court outcome, Ms. Schwank said, would be one that allows the NTSB to receive the un-redacted documents it wants, protects the PUC, and prevents the information from being released publicly.
Referring to explosions that have occurred across the state, including the one in Plum, Ms. Schwank said it was important that agencies charged with determining their causes be able to work together.
“It is a very troubling situation,” Ms. Schwank said. “I frankly don’t know how you can’t come to an agreement.”
The NTSB said the PUC originally was designated as “party” to the investigation based on its oversight of UGI as a natural gas pipeline operator, and because PUC had technical personnel that could help the NTSB investigation. The federal agency said federal law specifically allows it to inspect any records related to accident investigations and require a party to the investigation to provide such requested information.
The PUC’s failure to comply with the requirements, the NTSB said, could have serious consequences.
“The inability to access and review unredacted documents may compromise the accuracy and completeness of the investigation,” the federal agency said. Therefore, it said, the federal agency has revoked PUC’s “party” status.
The state agency said it offered to let the NTSB inspect original un-redacted reports at PUC’s Harrisburg office or sign a nondisclosure agreement.
“The NTSB has refused — demanding instead that they be given copies of the full unredacted internal, nonpublic reports” that contain confidential information, the PUC said.
