Four lawsuits filed over Durham gas explosion

Lawsuits were filed Monday on behalf of four victims of the massive natural gas explosion in Durham last year.

A contractor installing underground cables struck a gas line outside the Kaffeinate coffee shop on North Duke Street on April 10, 2019. The resulting explosion rocked the area west of downtown Durham, killing two and injuring about two dozen others.

The lawsuits seek unspecified damages from eight companies alleged to have been at fault in the explosion:

• Optic Cable Technology of Durham, which was operating the drill that hit the gas line
• PS Splicing of Oxford, which hired Optic Cable
• Crown Castle Fiber and three related companies that were in charge of the project
• Tower Engineering Professionals of Raleigh, which handled engineering for the project
• PSNC, the gas company that is alleged to have responded to slowly to the ruptured line

"This tragedy was caused by a cascade of errors," attorney David Kirby said in a statement. "The gas line would not have been ruptured if standard safety protocols were followed by all the contractors involved in the planning and execution of a major underground cable installation project in downtown Durham.

"Things only got worse when no one immediately called 911 to report a major gas leak that could have been shut off, preventing the explosion," Kirby added.

Gas flowed for about an hour after the rupture, filling underground cavities near Kaffeinate, before the blast, according to a Durham Fire Department investigation. Firefighters haven't been able to pinpoint what ignited the explosion.

The state Department of Labor cited Optic Cable for two serious violations of workplace safety regulations, each carrying a $7,000 fine. Inspectors said the company failed to locate nearby utilities, including the gas line, before drilling and then failed to call the 811 service for utility response or 911 for emergency assistance.

PSNC, part of Dominion Energy, and PS Splicing also were cited for serious violations. Inspectors said PS Splicing didn't perform regular inspections at the site, which could have identified the potential for a gas line rupture, and that PSNC allowed its employee to respond to a gas leak without personal protective gear, even parking his car in the blast zone.

A PSNC employee who had responded to the reported gas leak died two weeks later of injuries he suffered in the blast.

The family of Kaffeinate owner Kong Lee, who was killed in the blast, filed one of the lawsuits. The others were for Richard Meyers of Raleigh, who was driving a shuttle bus in the area when the explosion occurred; Katrics Edwards of Selma, who was walking to the coffee shop at the time of the explosion; and Jasper Poole of Durham, who was delivering flowers in the area at the time.