SILVER SPRING, Md. — The Maryland Public Service Commission is holding a public hearing on Tuesday to help figure out the next steps in a deadly apartment explosion investigation.
Seven people were killed, and nearly 70 others were hurt after a natural gas explosion at the Flower Branch Apartments in Silver Spring, Maryland in August 2016.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released recommendations and the findings of its investigation in 2019.
The investigation found the probable cause was a piece of equipment called a mercury regulator with a disconnected vent. Investigators revealed the faulty part-owned by Washington Gas allowed gas to build up in a utility room which led up to the deadly blast.
However, the gas company disputes the claim.
The Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC) is now working to figure out if Washington Gas should have replaced that faulty part more than a decade before the explosion happened.
The state-approved more than $500,000 for Washington Gas to replace nearly 67,000 mercury regulators, but the gas company responded saying its plan to fully replace all the parts was stalled by other “high priority safety issues.”
The PSC is holding the public meeting to give Washington Gas a chance to explain why all those parts were not replaced or why the money approved for the project was not used.
Community members will have a chance to ask questions, and the Commission will decide if the utility will get fined.
Washington Gas has agreed to implement some of the NTSB’s recommendations which will also be discussed at the public meeting.
There hearing is happening on Tuesday, December 17, 2019, at 6 p.m. at the Long Branch Library in Silver Spring.