Five Deadly Gas Explosions Where Lawyers Made a Difference

In harm’s way

In 2018, after an underground gas pipeline leak caused a deadly explosion in a Dallas, Texas, neighborhood, the NTSB found that Atmos Energy Corporation inadequately investigated two gas-related leaks just prior to the blast. Moreover, the company failed to report them as required, according to the NTSB. The agency further determined the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration does not provide clear requirements for gas leak investigations, potentially resulting in the underreporting of dangerous situations.

As a result of the Dallas explosion investigation, the NTSB issued 14 safety recommendations, including five to Atmos Energy and two to the American Gas Association.

The NTSB also investigated a gas leak explosion at a Minneapolis school that killed two people in 2017. The agency pinned fault on a service company that allowed methane to surge into the school building while a crew was attempting to relocate a gas meter.

In that case, lawyers at the Pritzker Hageman Explosion Law Firm represented the family of a beloved and long-time employee at the school who died from her injuries. Pritzker Hageman investigated and found that a gas line containing highly pressurized and explosive gas was being disassembled by an inexperienced, untrained and unqualified young worker. The gas leaked at full flow inside a downstairs area and the workers fled without saving the lives of others.

Not only did the state of Minnesota level hefty fines against the utility, but Pritzker Hageman filed an explosion lawsuit against the gas company and the contractor. The explosion and burn lawsuit handled by lawyers Eric Hageman and Fred Pritzker secured an undisclosed financial settlement for their client’s family. It was a legal case that drew media attention from around North America.

Pritzker Hageman’s national explosion and burn legal team is led by Eric Hageman. His work for individuals and families who are affected by fires and explosions has resulted in recoveries totaling more than $62 million. 

Repeated failures

The U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration cites a number of common reasons why gas leak incidents occur. They include corrosion, equipment failure, over-pressurized pipes, weld failures, excavation damage and natural forces like floods, high winds, earth movement and extreme temperature.

There was also a famous gas explosion case in New York City in which three people were convicted of greed-related manslaughter in 2020. The blast in Manhattan’s East Village killed two people, injured more than a dozen others and leveled three buildings. Prosecutors charged the landlord and two workers for rigging an illegal gas line that triggered the blast. They were alleged to be motivated by financial gain.

Nationwide, hundreds of millions of dollars have been paid out to burn and explosion victims through litigation, but the accidents continue, sometimes attracting the attention of lawmakers and the criminal justice system. The PIRG report said methane gas carried in pipelines is highly explosive and prone to disaster. 

That was the case in 2010 when an electrical failure at an energy terminal in San Bruno, California, led to a dangerous increase of pressure in the gas system. The gas leaked at the site of a poor welding job and exploded, leaving a crater 72 feet long and damaging more than 70 homes. Thirty-eight of those residences were entirely blown up and the disaster left eight people dead and 58 injured. It was a disaster that drew action from Congress and the courts.

Pacific Gas & Electric was convicted on six felony counts in the case. During the company’s five-year probation period, the utility also was blamed for igniting a number of devastating wildfires that killed more than 100 people.

“In these five years, PG&E has gone on a crime spree and will emerge from probation as a continuing menace to California,” U.S. District Judge William Alsup wrote in a report reviewing his oversight of the utility.

As reported by CBS News, the California gas and electric company pleaded guilty to 84 felony counts of involuntary manslaughter for the 2018 Camp Fire that wiped out the town of Paradise, about 170 miles from San Francisco.

Ongoing gas explosion investigations

As revealed in the PIRG report, most gas pipeline explosions don’t garner national attention. The report said a gas pipeline incident occurs somewhere in the U.S. approximately every 40 hours.

In the very first few hours of 2023, for example, a suspected gas leak rocked a rowhouse neighborhood in Philadelphia. Five people were injured, two homes were destroyed and 40 other residences were damaged. Pritzker Hageman has been monitoring an investigation of the blast. The probe was launched immediately by the Safety Division of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission.

The commission’s independent Bureau of Investigation and Enforcement said it will take a year before a final report is issued. Investigators started by overseeing the pipeline integrity tests of nearby natural gas lines. Two Philadelphia Gas Works gas mains are located in the street immediately in front of the damaged buildings, investigators have said. Initial leak surveys by the utility company did not identify natural gas leaks in the main lines, the Safety Division reported. The division said it will coordinate the collection of “physical jurisdictional evidence at the scene, including natural gas service lines and meters.’’

Justice for burn survivors

Gas explosions can leave scars on families and neighborhoods for lifetimes. In another neighborhood disaster, two five-story buildings in East Harlem collapsed in 2014 from an explosion caused by a gas leak, officials have said. Eight people died and 50 others were injured. Moreover, 100 families were displaced and five businesses had to move.

A 20-month investigation by the New York Public Service Commission found that ConEdison, the gas utility provider, had violated 11 safety regulations. The cause of the explosion was determined to be an improperly connected gas service line. In 2017, ConEdison reached a gas safety-related settlement with New York State that still stands as a state record. The legal settlement related to the gas leak explosion in New York City was $153.3 million.