Pennsylvania regulators on Wednesday sought $2.6 million in civil penalties against UGI Utilities Inc.’s gas division over a deadly March 2023 explosion and fire at the R.M. Palmer Company in West Reading, according to a complaint filed with an administrative law judge.
The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission alleged that UGI’s distribution facilities that served the company violated state and federal standards and regulations, the commission said in its filing. The regulators’ request comes about three years after the explosion killed seven workers and sent flames into the air, destroying a factory building and damaging nearby property.
The commission said the deadly blast and fire also destroyed a nearby apartment building and caused about $42 million in property damage. It said 10 people were injured, including four who were seriously hurt.
UGI issued a statement Wednesday describing the explosion as a “heartbreaking tragedy” and expressing sympathy for the victims’ families and for people in West Reading and others affected by the incident. The company also urged customers and the public to evacuate immediately if they smell gas, to get at least 360 feet (110 meters) away before calling 911 or UGI, and to use the company’s emergency number, 800-276-2722.
In its complaint, the commission said it was asking the Denver, Pennsylvania-based utility to take specific steps to reduce the risk of a repeat incident. Regulators said UGI should expand the use of remote methane detectors, inspect older plastic pipe fittings more often, and bolster emergency response procedures.
The explosion was traced to a plastic service part in the street near the factory, about 60 miles (96 kilometers) northwest of Philadelphia, the complaint states. Gas went underground into the factory building and was somehow ignited.
A woman pulled alive from the rubble told The Associated Press in 2023 that flames engulfed the building and that her arm was trapped when the floor gave way. Patricia Borges said she fell into a vat of liquid chocolate, which extinguished her blazing arm, and that she broke her collarbone and both heels while spending nine hours screaming for help and waiting for rescue as firefighters battled the inferno.
The commission’s case also cites findings that predated the regulators’ action, saying the National Transportation Safety Board previously concluded the plant lacked natural gas emergency procedures that could have resulted in an immediate evacuation. Regulators said workers reported they smelled gas before the gas ignited.