VIDEO: A gas main was not marked as it should have been according to a preliminary investigation into how a Lexington house exploded last month.
The National Transportation Safety Board released the preliminary findings on Monday, May 5. The NTSB found workers with Alfra Construction drilled into the unmarked section of a capped underground gas main in a residential neighborhood on April 9. The workers were installing a fiber optic line for Sellenriek Construction at the time.
The report touches on two of the concerns raised by neighbors in the days that followed: evacuation and marking of the gas main.
The National Transportation Safety Board continues to investigate the explosion. It noted that the findings of the report and are subject to change. โIt is still early in the investigation and no determination of cause has been determined,โ NTSB spokesman Keith Holloway said in an email to KCTV5.
The report lists multiple parties to the investigation. Holloway explained that these parties provide technical expertise and are selected to assist with the investigation. Investigators plan to look into the following:
- Liberty Utilitiesโ responses to 811 requests, leak and repair history, emergency response and isolation procedures, record keeping, pipeline safety management system, operator qualifications, and public awareness program
- State safety oversight
- Local emergency response and evacuation procedures.
OSHA is also investigating the explosion.
KCTV5 sought comment from Liberty Utilities and was advised that, as a party to this NTSB investigation, the company is โseverely limited by federal regulationโ about what they can disclose. It did provide a statement unrelated to the investigation, offering its thoughts and prayers to all those impacted.
