Energy company charged in 2018 Greene County house explosion
MORGAN TOWNSHIP, Pa. (KDKA) -- An energy company is facing charges after it failed to fix a natural gas leak that caused a house explosion in Greene County five years ago, the Pennsylvania attorney general announced on Wednesday.
Equitrans owned and operated the Pratt Storage Field directly beneath the home on Bowser Road that exploded and caught fire on Oct. 31, 2018, severely burning a couple and their 4-year-old son, the attorney general's office said.
Gas that was stored in Pratt Storage Field migrated vertically into the groundwater through a nearby storage well that was deteriorating and leaking, resulting in methane contamination of the home's water supply.
According to the investigation, the attorney general's office said Equitrans acknowledged in federal filings before the explosion that Pratt field was losing gas and that wells within the field were leaking gas.
The attorney general's office said Cody White was home with his son and girlfriend, and when he turned on the stove to cook for his child, the house immediately exploded. Cody White helped his family out of the home after they were knocked down by flaming debris.
"Not only were they physically injured with severe burns throughout their body but they lost their entire house, everything they owned. Their dog, Levi, didn't make it out," said Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry.
After the explosion, the attorney general's office said despite operating a well just 300 feet from the White's home, Equitrans didn't launch its own investigation into the source of the gas leak, as it was required by law.
A grand jury recommended charges against Equitrans under Pennsylvania's Clean Streams Law for failures to properly maintain a storage well and for not conducting an investigation after the explosion.
Equitrans is charged with prohibition against discharge of industrial waste, prohibition against other pollutions, and two counts of unlawful conduct under the Clean Streams Law.
Benjamin Goodwin, the attorney representing the White family, said they approve of the grand jury's findings.
"This has been a long painful road for them without many answers. I think this brought them the first step towards closure," Goodwin said.
Goodwin wants this to serve as a warning for other homeowners. The White family didn't even know what was beneath their feet.
"And people, if you live near these wells or you live on a storage field, really need to ask questions about what's under their feet because I think a lot of people don't realize what they're standing on, particularly in rural communities in Greene County, Fayette County, Washington County," Goodwin said.
Miraculously all three people inside that home, including the little boy, made it out alive. But they're still living with the physical and mental repercussions of that explosion. These criminal charges will now play out in court, and there's also a civil suit ongoing in Greene County.
Equitrans released a statement, saying:
"First and foremost, Equitrans fully cooperated with the grand jury investigation, and we believe the substantial operational evidence that we presented to the state factually demonstrates that Equitrans' operations were not the cause of the incident.
"We are reviewing the complaint in its entirety and will fully defend our position in this matter."
