Comcast's Disregard for the Public Has Disastrous Consequences

March 22, 2005

On March 17, a Comcast contractor punctured a gas line in Moon Twp., a town 3 miles east of Pittsburgh International Airport. More than an hour and a half later a gas explosion flattened a nearby house, critically injuring an 18 year-old high school student. The man remains at Mercy Hospital in the burn unit and expected to survive although he faces surgery and skin grafts to repair the damage. Both the man and his 14 year-old sister, who was slightly injured in the blast, had just gotten home from school.

Employees of the contractor, Conn-X of Lawrenceville, PA, notified their superiors at 1:36 pm that they had punctured the line. The contractor, in turn, notified Pennsylvania One—the agency responsible—at 1:51 pm. The explosion took place at 3:10 pm.

While Conn-X fulfilled part of its legal requirements—notifying One Call—it did not alert nearby residents, as it was required to do, or facilitate evacuation. According to Moon police Captain Leo McCarthy, there were 10 police officers on duty at the time who could have helped to evacuate the neighborhood. Witnesses stated that the Conn-X employees fled the scene shortly after the explosion.

Some neighborhood residents were initially quoted as having smelled gas as early as 11:30 that morning. Investigators now believe those reports to have been erroneous, as they have received contradictory evidence.

Conn-X was performing horizontal drilling to get fiber optic cable across the street when the operation punctured the pipe. In the opinion of One Call's executive director, Bill Kiger, directional boring is cheaper than backhoe digging, "but we're starting to see that directional digging has begun to exceed the [amount of damage] incurred by backhoes."

The operations manager for Conn-X, James Ochiltree, has been advised by lawyers not to comment. Comcast spokesman Brian Jeter also would not comment.

Click here to view a KDKA News Video about the explosion. You may have to disable your pop-up blocker to view the video. (Note: a 15-second commercial will play prior to the news report.)

Click here to read about the dangers in the type of digging used by this Comcast contractor.