Overview
- A gas leak from a melted plastic service line led to the explosion that killed a 73-year-old homeowner and a BGE contractor and injured others in August 2024.
- Investigators found electrical and gas lines buried together with separations as small as three inches, far below the 12-inch industry recommendation, allowing a heated copper tracer wire to melt the gas pipe.
- Nearly 10 hours before the blast an electrical technician reported a suspected leak but dispatch logged the wrong location and a gas worker inspected the wrong house, leaving the hazard unaddressed.
- Calls from a county worker less than an hour before the explosion were routed to an on-call agent who the NTSB says had been drinking and fell asleep, and Exelon did not perform post-accident drug or alcohol testing on that agent.
- BGE and Exelon have changed phone-handling rules, added supervisor fitness screenings, required electric crews to stay on site when lines share trenches, and begun installing trench barrier devices while the NTSB urges industrywide fixes to call systems and coordination.