Changes Urged Amid Probe of Fatal Pennsylvania Gas Explosion

Federal authorities investigating a gas explosion that leveled a Pennsylvania home last year, killing one utility worker and injuring two other workers, are urging changes to prevent incorrect installation of a gas distribution system component.

The National Transportation Safety Board still hasn’t determined the cause of the July 2017 blast in Manor Township near Millersville, which killed a UGI Utilities employee.

But the safety board said Monday that investigators had determined that the PermaLock mechanical tapping tee assembly in the home’s gas distribution system was incorrectly installed.

So it wants the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration to work with state pipeline regulators to make sure such assemblies are correctly installed. It also wants Honeywell and other firms to update their assembly instructions.