DUBOIS – Nearly two years ago, a gas line leaked in DuBois, leading to an explosion and fire that killed a couple in their home.
The exact reason the gas line leaked was under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board, and now their final report has been released.
It was a faulty joint that began leaking and then fractured.
A worker for National Fuel Distribution Corp. created the joint, called a butt-fusion joint. Such a joint is made when the ends of two pipes are heated, then pressed together and allowed to cool.
This photograph depicts the exact location of the faulty joint that caused a gas explosion in DuBois on Aug. 21, 2004. (Photo provided by the National Transportation Safety Board)
The NTSB report did not say whether that worker would face disciplinary action, but it did lay out several recommendations for future conduct.
For the Public Utility Commission, the NTSB recommended examining all of National Fuel’s butt-fusion joints and requiring the replacement of faulty ones.
National Fuel’s recommendations from the NTSB included revising butt-fusion procedures for plastic pipe and revising initial qualification and requalification procedures for fusers.
According to the report, both fusers passed their initial qualification. Upon recertification prior to the pipe being installed in 1996, both fusers passed their test, but neither was given a written exam. Neither crew fuser, according to National Fuel records, had a documented failed joint.
After the explosion, 40 joints belonging to National Fuel were examined. Twenty-four of those were examined by the NTSB. Sixteen joints were found to have been faulty, but National Fuel does not have records of who created those joints.