PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Federal safety investigators and the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) are at odds over documents related to the fatal chocolate factory explosion in West Reading earlier this year.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said the PUC refused to turn over the inspection records, so it issued a subpoena on Monday. However, the PUC argues that its hands are tied because of state law.
In the subpoena, the NTSB said the PUC refused to provide five years of full, unredacted inspection and investigation reports of UGI Utilities Inc., the company that supplied natural gas to the R.M. Palmer plant where the explosion took place on March 24. Seven people were killed, 11 others were injured, and three families were displaced from a nearby apartment building.
Employees told investigators that they smelled gas leading up to the blast.
“Applicable federal regulations expressly authorize the NTSB to inspect any records related to an accident investigation and obligate a party to an NTSB investigation to provide any requested information related to the accident or incident,” the NTSB said in a statement. “As a party, the PUC was required to comply with these regulations.”
The PUC, however, said it could not provide those documents because of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Confidential Security Information Disclosure Protection Act, or the CSI Act.
“CSI is extremely sensitive information, detailing key utility infrastructure along with threats, risks, and vulnerabilities,” the PUC said in a statement. “Under the current CSI Act, there are no exceptions for investigative agencies — like the NTSB — which is why the PUC has offered other alternatives.”
Those alternatives — in which federal investigators could view the documents in person in Harrisburg, or sign a nondisclosure agreement — were rejected.
“By not providing the requested information to the NTSB, the PUC has not met its obligations as a party to the investigation as codified in federal law,” the NTSB said. “The inability to access and review unredacted documents may compromise the accuracy and completeness of the investigation.”
The board also announced that it is removing the PUC as a party to the investigation. The PUC said it would get the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office involved.