State Regulators Seek Misdemeanor Charge for Farmer who Caused Natural Gas Outage - bigcountrynewsconnection.com
State Regulators Seek Misdemeanor Charge for Farmer who Caused Natural Gas Outage | Local | bigcountrynewsconnection.com
PULLMAN - A Washington state agency wants the farmer who ruptured a pipeline near Pullman, causing a massive natural gas outage, to be charged with a misdemeanor.
The Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission received a report about the November 8 incident from agency investigators during their meeting this morning. The investigation found that Brad Meyer was digging for a four-inch drain line with a tractor and implement when he hit and ruptured the pipeline north of Pullman.
Investigators believe that Meyer broke state law when he allegedly failed to notify a call center before digging and didn’t have an excavation confirmation code that’s required when working within 35 feet of a pipeline.
Investigators asked the commission to request that the Whitman County Prosecutor’s Office charge Meyer with a misdemeanor for violating the law regarding the confirmation code. The agency is still investigating the allegation that Meyer failed to notify the call center.
The commissioners unanimously approved the request to send the case to the prosecutor’s office for review. The investigators told the board that the outage was one of the largest in the nation’s history - costing over $5 million dollars.
The rupture caused about 37,000 Avista Utilities customers on the Palouse and in the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley to lose natural gas for up to a week. Utility companies from across the country sent crews to the region to restore the natural gas service. Nearly a thousand personnel worked to get the gas turned back on.
There were other members of the Meyer family who were helping lay the tile and officials say it’s a miracle that no one was hurt in the explosive rupture.
The state agency will not release their final report to the public until after the prosecutor’s office completes its review of the case.
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