The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has released its findings on the deadly explosion that occurred at a Chase Bank in downtown Youngstown in May of last year. The NTSB concluded that a series of missteps, including mislabeled gas lines and lax emergency protocols, set the stage for the tragedy. A gas line, noted as inactive but still live, was cut, leading to a fatal explosion that killed one employee, Akil Drake, and injured several others. In their investigation, reported by Cleveland19, NTSB stated that the erroneously marked gas line by Enbridge Gas Ohio was cut by a construction crew who had been informed the line was no longer in use.
The NTSB's criticism extends to the bank's inadequate emergency procedures. According to a WFMJ report, the bank's guidelines did not call for immediate evacuation in the event of a gas leak, a policy that likely contributed to casualties, as employees stayed in the building until the moment of the explosion. Construction crews from GreenHeart Companies, not directly verifying with Enbridge about the operational status of the line, cut through a pressurized natural gas line, prompting the release before the blast. A follow-up by Enbridge discovered that numerous other lines marked as abandoned were also active, necessitating a systematic overhaul of their records and emergency practices.
Post-incident, Chase Bank has updated its emergency guidelines to mandate immediate evacuation when a gas leak is detected, a detail shared by Business Journal Daily. Enbridge has since issued a pipeline safety alert and initiated new protocols to visually confirm the disconnecting and capping of service lines. The company has taken steps to properly document and deactivate pipelines that were erroneously marked as inactive and has placed warning tags on piping assets to warn customers of the presence of pressurized gas.
Michele Harradence, Enbridge Gas president, expressed the company's sorrow in a statement obtained by WFMJ, "Losing a life like Akil Drake's was incredibly difficult for everybody to see as well as nine other people sent to hospitals." Harradence acknowledged the company's commitment to improving safety measures and the necessity for ongoing revisions in light of the tragedy. Moreover, in the aftermath, Ohio Edison has also addressed gaps in their emergency response processes, revising their training to enhance communication with incident commanders and expedite power cutoffs during emergencies.
