Columbia Gas fined $400,000 for Avon gas line, house fire

AVON, Ohio -- Columbia Gas of Ohio has been fined $400,000 for an accidental gas line fire in 2017.

The fire occurred, according to the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, when a contractor relied on incomplete records that did not show the existence of an abandoned but still fully pressurized gas line at a home that once included a commercial greenhouse on the land.

Columbia has said it has put new measures into place to identify gas lines, reviewed the procedures its crews use when pulling meters and shutting down service lines no longer used and has accelerated a program using GPS technology to locate gas lines.

The company also noted that since 2008 it has replaced 343,540 gas service lines connecting customers to main lines and replaced 1,500 miles of mainlines.

Read more: https://www.cleveland.com/business/2019/02/columbia-gas-fined-400000-for-avon-gas-line-house-fire.html