Press Release

PUC Approves Settlement with Columbia Gas of Pennsylvania Addressing Worker Safety Concerns

Published on 12/7/2017

Filed under: Gas

HARRISBURG – The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) today approved a joint settlement involving Columbia Gas of Pennsylvania (Columbia) and the PUC’s independent Bureau of Investigation and Enforcement (I&E).

The settlement, which was approved 5-0 by the Commission, follows investigations by I&E’s Gas Safety Division into alleged safety violations at work sites in Allegheny and Lawrence counties. Based on its investigations, I&E alleged that Columbia’s failure to take adequate precautions, exercise reasonable care, and provide necessary training on the company’s operating procedures led to bodily injury of two contractor workers, and was in violation of Commission regulations for state safety standards.

The settlement, which was previously posted for public comment by the Commission, includes the following:

• Corrective actions and revisions to operating procedures intended to reduce or prevent injuries to workers;
• Accelerating enhanced operator qualification training for Columbia contractors from a three- to two-year cycle;
• Providing physical identifiers on all sections of gas main under test pressure where the main is exposed;
• Revising training procedures relative to pressure testing pipelines;
• Verifying that all required contractors and Columbia employees have completed training relative to preventing and responding to potentially hazardous situations;
• Enhancing employee training and retraining on internal cleaning of pipelines; and,
• A $50,000 civil penalty, which cannot be recovered from ratepayers.

The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission balances the needs of consumers and utilities; ensures safe and reliable utility service at reasonable rates; protects the public interest; educates consumers to make independent and informed utility choices; furthers economic development; and fosters new technologies and competitive markets in an environmentally sound manner.

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Docket No.: M-2016-2378672

Contact:

• Nils Hagen-Frederiksen
  Press Secretary
  717-418-2701
  nhagen-fre@pa.gov