A cut natural gas line was found in a basement area of a Youngstown building which was severely damaged by a massive explosion this week, the National Transportation Safety Board reported Thursday, but it’s not yet known if that played a role in the blast.
The line was not supposed to have gas in it, NTSB board member Tom Chapman said during a news conference, but it was found to be pressurized. He said the line came off the main service line and led to the building in downtown Youngstown but did not service the structure.
“Enbridge Gas then cut off and plugged the service where it connected to the basement. Tests were then run to confirm tests to depressurize the service line were successful,” Chapman said.
Investigators will try to determine whether third-party work to clear out old infrastructure in the basement may have led to the line cut and explosion and why it was pressurized, Chapman said. He did not believe there was anything suspicious about the cut line.
The explosion Tuesday afternoon blew out much of the ground floor of Realty Tower, killing a bank employee and injuring several other people. It collapsed part of the ground floor into its basement and sent the façade across a street where both sides had been blocked off by orange construction barriers. Bricks, glass and other debris littered the sidewalk outside the 13-story building, which had a Chase Bank branch at street level and apartments in upper floors.
“Our investigation is a safety investigation. It is parallel to and will be coordinated with other regulatory agencies," Chapman said. He noted, federal investigators don’t typically cover gas explosions.
“We focus our attention on those we think might have some particular impact on safety, certainly on a national perspective whether there can be lessons that can be learned, that can be shared with others to be sure we don’t have similar circumstances,” said Chapman. “In this case we have a longstanding concern about third party work in the vicinity of gas lines.”
Chapman and Kim West, the NTSB investigator in charge of the review, toured the damage Thursday morning.
“It’s devasting,” said Chapman. “The damage to the building is devasting. It’s difficult to get a perspective from the photos and videos you’ve seen but when you’re up close to it, you can see how deep it goes down to the basement area and how much damage there was and the sizes of the structures that were damaged. It gets your attention.”
A preliminary report will be available in 30 days, Chapman said. A final report will likely take 12 to 24 months.
In the meantime, any plans to open the building to business and residents would need to be approved by state and local officials.