Missouri’s attorney general sued a natural gas company Monday over the explosion of a home in a small town that killed a 5-year-old boy, accusing the utility of violating a state safety law.
Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s lawsuit came less than a week after federal investigators said in a preliminary report that a Liberty Utilities employee failed to mark a section of a gas line before another company drilled into it while installing a fiber optic cable. The April 9 explosion destroyed a home in Lexington, a town of about 4,500 people about 55 miles (89 kilometers) east of Kansas City.
The blast killed Alistair Lamb and injured his 10-year-old sister, Cami, and their father, Jacob Cunningham. Bailey’s lawsuit, filed in Lafayette County Circuit Court, alleges that a Liberty employee “falsely” told the company installing the fiber optic cable that all gas lines had been marked. The lawsuit called the explosion a “preventable tragedy.”
Bailey said Liberty violated a state law designed to ensure that digging for underground water, sewer and telecommunications lines is safe. Bailey is seeking a $10,000 fine for each day the section of gas line wasn’t marked and wants a special monitor appointed to ensure that the company complies with the law.
The company said in a statement that as a party to the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board’s ongoing investigation, it cannot comment much about the explosion or the lawsuit. Liberty said it will continue to help families affected by the explosion and “support broader recovery efforts.”
“Nothing is more important to us than the safety of our customers, employees, and communities,” the statement said. “We remain fully committed to working with authorities and regulatory agencies to support the ongoing investigation into the cause of the incident.”
