Cascade Natural Gas Corp will pay up to $2 million to settle safety complaints after a botched delivery of liquified natural gas led to a fatal fire in Toppenish in 2023.
One man died and another was injured when LNG was accidentally released during a delivery and ignited, according to an investigation by the Washington State Utilities and Transportation Commission (UTC).
The UTC approved an order adopting the agreement Thursday.
Cascade, based in Kennewick, has 30 days to pay $1.75 million. The balance is suspended if it complies with terms of the order. The state commission initially recommended a $5.7 million fine.
Earnest D. Barnett, 62, died of severe burns, and a second man was injured in the fire.
According to investigators, Cascade failed to notify the commission that it was using portable liquid natural gas equipment, failed to provide an employee with flame-resistant clothing, failed to secure wheels of a transport truck and failed to follow proper fire protection and emergency procedures.
Legal documents paint a complicated picture of the events that resulted in the loss of 83 gallons of liquified natural gas during a delivery to a testing station in Toppenish, about an hour west of the Tri-Cities.
The escaped natural gas formed a vapor cloud that ignited, prompting evacuations of nearby homes and a middle school.
The state Utilities and Transportation Commission has waived part of a penalty against Kennewick-based Cascade Natural Gas for safety violations.
(Bellingham Herald)
WA state findings
The stage was set when Cascade, a subsidiary of Montana Dakota Utilities, acquired gas systems throughout Washington, according to the utilities commission. Several of the acquired companies operated pipelines where the maximum pressure could not be verified.
Cascade was required to test the lines in Toppenish and surrounding towns. It set up mobile sites to ensure gas would continue to enter its system and serve customers while testing occurred.
LNG would be trucked in, stored in trailers called “queens” and vaporized before being fed into the system.
Cascade hired Sapphire Energy Solutions to carry out the work at Toppenish. Sapphire in turn subcontracted with two trucking companies, including Southern Pines Trucking, to bring the gas to the mobile sites, including Toppenish.
On Sept. 22, 2023, a driver employed by Southern delivered a load of LNG at 9:39 a.m.
He backed his truck into the unloading area, and hooked the transfer hose to the queen. His wheels should have been chocked to prevent movement, but apparently were not. The chocks were later found inside the trailer.
The delivery went awry when the driver received information about his next pickup and delivery.
Cascade Natural Gas office building is at 8113 W. Grandrige Blvd. in Kennewick.
(Bob Brawdy/bbrawdy@tricityherald.com)
Mistakenly thinking his delivery was complete, he drove away, about 25 minutes into what should have been a two-hour transfer. With no blocks on his tires to remind him to stay put, he drove off, causing the transfer hose to detach and LNG to escape.
In the resulting fire, the driver and Barnett raced to shut off the source of the gas.
Barnett suffered second- and third-degree burns on his face and neck. He was initially taken to a local hospital, then to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, where he died two days later.
The unidentified driver was taken to a local hospital and later spent more time in a Florida hospital after he returned to Orlando after the incident.
UTC agreement terms
Under terms of the settlement, Cascade may not recover the penalty costs from its customers.
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It must hire a third-party contractor to audit its safety management program and correct any deficiencies
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It must allow staff and the commission to give input during the audit process.
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It must create a new policy to oversee and manage contractors.
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It must notify the state agency if LNG is used in future operations.
Cascade cooperated fully with the investigation and is committed to preventing similar events in the future, the UTC said.
“The settlement is a full resolution of the issues involved in the proceeding and includes a penalty that will not be recovered from customers, along with required actions to strengthen safety management and contractor oversight,” Cascade said in a comment.
“Cascade is committed to meeting all settlement requirements and continuing to enhance safety across our operations,” it said.
Cascade serves 222,000 customers in 67 communities in Washington.
The 1955 Washington Legislature created the Utilities and Transportation Commission Pipeline Safety Program to regulate the practices of 41 pipeline operators in Washington. It conducts safety inspections on more than 47,000 miles of natural gas and hazardous-liquid pipelines in Washington.
