A federal regulator on Tuesday found Consolidated Edison Inc largely liable for a natural gas explosion that destroyed two buildings and killed eight people in Manhattan's East Harlem neighborhood in 2014, while also putting some blame on New York City.
The blast was mainly caused by a defective connection between two gas pipes that allowed gas to leak from a gas main into the building where it ignited, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which monitors the safety of the nation's pipelines, said in a report. ( http://1.usa.gov/1f1ppoJ )
The pipes were installed by a contractor to Con Edison, the NTSB said.
The NTSB also called out the New York City Department of Environmental Protection for not repairing a breach in the sewer line for nearly eight years.
The breach allowed groundwater and soil to flow into the sewer, resulting in erosion. The loss of support for the gas pipe caused it to sag and stress the defective pipe joint , the regulator said.
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Five women and three men were killed and dozens more were injured by an explosion in East Harlem on March 12 last year, which occurred just minutes after a resident reported a gas leak.
Con Edison had said at the time that the most recent survey on the block where the buildings stood was done at the end of February, and no leak was found at the time.
The NTSB also said Con Edison did not immediately contact the fire department when notified by a resident of a gas odor in one of the buildings about 25 minutes before the explosion occurred.
Responders could have arrived at the gas leak location up to 15 minutes before the explosion had Con Edison immediately notified the fire department when the gas leak was brought to its attention, the NTSB said.
Con Edison and New York City have also been hit by lawsuits that allege their carelessness contributed to the explosion.
Con Edison in a statement agreed with the NTSB that the city's sewer breach contributed to the explosion but the utility took issue with some findings.
"Not all of the participants involved in this investigation reached the same conclusion concerning the sequence of infrastructure failures that led to the explosion," Con Edison said.
