The Utah Public Service Commission issued an order Thursday that will require the state's largest natural gas supplier to increase its safety standards regarding gas leaks.
The commission order approves a settlement stemming from an incident in February 2007 in which contractors working in the Saratoga Springs community struck a natural gas line. Questar Gas Co. was called and homes were evacuated while the line was repaired.
However, when homeowner April Roper and Questar employee Larry Radford went back into the home, presumably to restart the furnace, the home exploded, killing both of them.
A wrongful-death lawsuit filed by Roper's husband alleged that Radford didn't have the necessary tool to detect the explosive levels of natural gas that had leaked into the home. Questar Gas has since implemented standards that require checks by employees using a variety of tools, and the lawsuit was settled in February.
In September, the Division of Public Utilities and Questar Gas announced a settlement that outlined changes in safety procedures as well as additional oversight for Questar, and the commission's order this week approved that settlement.
The Division of Public Utilities and Questar will provide additional "Blue Stakes" training for third-party excavators; create and distribute bilingual, laminated hang tags instructing excavators what to do for a line break; and conduct additional safety training — at costs nearing $130,000. Questar will pay $40,000 of that $130,000 toward hiring an independent, natural gas industry expert to audit the company's current policies and procedures — especially procedures of emergency call processing and response, evacuation, scene control, gas movement and employee training.
Questar Gas will also provide semiannual reports to the commission explaining the type and hours of training conducted both in-house at Questar Gas and in conjunction with the Blue Stakes Center of Utah, the order states.
Questar spokesman Darren Shepherd said the company is pleased with the order because it provides for better education and training, which is necessary to make sure customers and workers are safe in the event of a natural gas leak.
"This stipulation provides for just a general safety awareness among everybody involved — the company, contractors and customers," he said.
Contributing: Sara Israelsen-Hartley
E-mail: jlee@desnews.com