Puget Sound Energy agrees to pay $1.5M in penalties for Greenwood explosion

Posted Wednesday, March 29, 2017 by Pivotal Law Group

It was announced yesterday that a settlement has been reached between Puget Sound Energy (PSE) and the state's Utilities and Transportation Commission, in which PSE agrees to pay $1.5 million in penalties for the March 9, 2016 natural-gas explosion in Greenwood.

The blast, in a line that was supposed to have been retired in 2004, destroyed three businesses, damaged nearly three dozen others and injured nine firefighters.

An estimate the day of the explosion placed the damage at $3 million. The three businesses that were destroyed were in two adjacent buildings, one built in 1910, the other in 1926.

Investigators found that employees of Pilchuck Contractors, a Kirkland company hired by PSE for pipeline maintenance, did not properly cut and cap the line.

In addition to the penalty, PSE has received 15 individual claims, 8 of which have been resolved to date.

Click here for a link to the full article or see the link below:

http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/puget-sound-energy-will-pay-15m-for-greenwood-explosion/