Peoples Gas service lines not responsible for Plum explosion, PUC finds

The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission said Tuesday there is no link between Peoples Gas service lines and the August 2023 house explosion in Plum’s Rustic Ridge neighborhood that killed six people.

“Our investigators have concluded their work and they did not find anything on the utility side that was the cause,” PUC media contact Nils Hagen-Frederiksen said. “That was the focus of a lot of concern because neighbors were wondering if there was a broader safety issue.

“What exactly happened inside that building is not something the PUC has the ability to investigate.”

The PUC’s Safety Division has closed its investigation into the Aug. 12 tragedy, which resulted in the destruction of three homes.

“While the PUC’s portion of the investigation has concluded, the commission recognizes and deeply appreciates the profound level of concern this incident has generated within the community, and our hearts go out to everyone impacted by this tragic event,” Hagen-Frederiksen said.

The PUC Safety Division is part of the commission’s independent Bureau of Investigation and Enforcement.

Safety Division experts will remain available to assist the Allegheny County Fire Marshal’s Office and other investigators who continue to examine the cause of the Rustic Ridge Drive incident.

Continuing investigations will target the interior of the residence at 141 Rustic Ridge Drive, where the mid-morning blast happened.

It is outside the scope of the PUC’s jurisdiction and is subject to investigation by other agencies.

The Allegheny County Fire Marshal’s Office did not immediately respond to messages requesting comment on the status of its investigation.

Hagen-Frederiksen said with any utility there are two separate divisions — the utility side, which includes the pipelines, connections and everything outside the home, and the interior, which is the plumbing, wiring and connections.

The PUC jurisdiction focuses only on the utility side.

The cause of the explosion, it appears, was something inside the home, Hagen-Frederiksen said.

The inferno destroyed two neighboring homes and damaged at least a dozen others. Residents from miles away said their houses shook.

Six people inside the home were killed as a result of the explosion. They were Paul and Heather Oravitz, husband and wife who lived at 141 Rustic Ridge; Casey and Keegan Clontz, father and son who lived around the corner on Brookside Drive; Michael Thomas, who lived at 139 Rustic Ridge; and Kevin Sebunia, who lived at 135 Rustic Ridge.

Pipeline safety engineers initiated their investigation as soon as they responded to the Plum neighborhood.

“While firefighting and recovery efforts were still active at the scene, investigators from the Safety Division began gathering information from residents, responders and utilities around that location,” Hagen-Frederiksen said.

Afterward, engineers worked with state and local agencies who also responded to the incident, including the county, the state Department of Environmental Protection and Peoples Natural Gas.

The Safety Division completed field and lab testing of Peoples Gas service lines and other jurisdictional facilities, and monitored integrity tests of nearby public utility natural gas service lines by crews from Peoples Gas.

The PUC safety team also conducted detailed interviews with utility employees, first responders and residents, and collected and reviewed data from Peoples Gas.

“Engineers from the Safety Division helped the fire marshal with the investigation of oil company assets near the explosion site and worked in conjunction with PA DEP to investigate other potential gas sources,” Hagen-Frederiksen said.