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A gas explosion in Dallas killed a 12-year-old girl last month and prompted the evacuation of a northwest neighborhood of close to 3,000 people.
Dallas Morning News investigative reporter has obtained emails from the Texas Railroad Commission indicating that crews from Atmos Energy, the natural gas supplier in the area, were repairing multiple gas leaks very close to the home that exploded, but the company didn鈥檛 shut down the pipelines or evacuate the neighborhood immediately.
One of the emails dated 12 hours before the explosion describes how Atmos employees were investigating two leaks apparently related to previous kitchen fires in the area, but without any sense of urgency or recommendation for further preventive action.
鈥淭hey didn鈥檛 evacuate the neighborhood. They didn鈥檛 shut down the pipeline,鈥� Aspinwall says. 鈥淚t raises questions about should they have done more? Should they have notified the people in the area? Why didn鈥檛 they seem as concerned about these two leaks as the neighbors did? Because a lot of neighbors had told us and had said at public meetings that they called and they could smell gas. They knew something was wrong.鈥�
The fires mentioned in the email happened on Feb. 21 and Feb. 22, in homes located on the street directly behind the house that exploded on Feb. 23. The houses shared an alley, Aspinwall says. One man interviewed by the reporter told her that the first incident felt like an explosion, not like a kitchen fire.
on the weather, shifting clay soil, and aging steel pipes. The Texas Railroad Commission confirmed that the pipelines in the affected neighborhood were made of steel, which can be more vulnerable to leaks. However, the gas company hasn鈥檛 agreed to release maps of other neighborhoods with steel pipes that may be at risk.
鈥淧retty much after the 1970s they started using plastic PVC for pipes because it鈥檚 more flexible. There have been cases nationally in other states and cities where the steel pipes bend to pressure, or leak, or corrode in spots,鈥� Aspinwall says. 鈥淎 lot of people have questions about their pipes in their neighborhoods, and we have tried to find out and get a map of where are the steel pipes in Dallas neighborhoods.鈥�
The company won鈥檛 release the maps, though.
鈥淭hey claim that there鈥檚 a security risk,鈥� Aspinwall says. 鈥淚 think these security provisions came up after 9/11, as many things did. I guess they were at the time used to concerns about terrorism, to make the records less public and less available to people. And that information became harder to get.鈥�
After finding at least 28 leaks in pipes in a two-day period, Atmos Energy evacuated the entire neighborhood. The company started replacing the steel distribution pipes in the neighborhood and the service lines to the individual homes. Many residents went to hotels, but others are still living in their houses without gas service.
鈥淭hey don鈥檛 have hot water. They can鈥檛 use the washer and dryer sometimes,鈥� Aspinwall says. 鈥淭he company has set up service stations and they are trying to help with stipends and housing, but the neighbors are really frustrated. Some people say that this doesn鈥檛 cover all their expenses.鈥�
Aspinwall says that the Texas Railroad Commission and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the explosions.
Written by Cesar Lopez-Linares.
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