KSHB 41 reporter Isabella Ledonne covers issues surrounding government accountability and solutions. Share your story with Isabella.
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It's been nearly two weeks since a house explosion in Lexington, Missouri, claimed the life of a 5-year-old boy and critically injured his father and sister.
Jacob Cunningham, the father of the children, filed a lawsuit on behalf of himself, his 10-year-old daughter, Cami, and his late 5-year-old son, Alistair, against the four companies involved in the gas line break that preceded the explosion.
The rubble remains around Cunningham's home, as do neighbors' questions about how his house exploded.
"Something could have been done beforehand," Sarah Rodriguez, a Lexington resident, told KSHB 41 News at the scene.
Before any company digs underground, it has to file a notice with Missouri 811.
"We send about nearly seven million notifications out every year," said Executive Director Randy Norden. "That gives you a picture of the volume of how much we're working with."
Public records paint a clearer picture of when fiber optic company Alfra Communication and utility company Liberty Gas alerted 811 after the gas line break. Alfra Communication filed a notice five days before the explosion, and utility crews marked and painted the area two days before the dig.
Both are common procedures.
"It should not be taken as implication that the locating work was done correctly, only that we can assume that it had been done correctly up until that point," Norden said. "As far as the notification process, the excavators and the utilities all interacted with the system responsibly and correctly. There's no errors in there."
At 4:21 p.m. on April 9, Alfra Communication called 811 to report damage to the gas line near 18th Street and Franklin Avenue. The report stated, "Gas is blowing."
An hour later, Liberty Utilities filed its own emergency report.
"That's kind of an interesting nuance, the fact that here now, Liberty Utilities is the excavator, so they're calling in an emergency ticket to excavate," Norden said. "All the utilities responded appropriately."
But a handful of neighbors told KSHB 41 News they didn't know there was a gas leak until the devastating explosion.
"People could have been warned or evacuated," Rodriguez said.
By 811 reporting standards, Norden explained both companies acted appropriately.
"Missouri 811 does not make that [notifying call], that's based on emergency response to whoever is on the site," Norden said. "Personally, right now, I find it baffling. I'm really waiting to see what the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) finds in their investigation."
The NTSB is looking at three primary areas — human factors, the pipeline system and the operating environment. The Missouri Public Service Commission (PSC) is also investigating what happened.
"We don't want this to happen again," said Forrest Gossett, public information officer. "[We're looking at] what recommendations we can and the other agencies can make to ensure that it doesn't happen again."
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has also opened investigations into Liberty Utilities and Alfra Communication following the explosion.
In a Missouri Sunshine request, KSHB 41 News asked for copies of the incident reports, fire department procedure policies for gas line breaks, and the contracts between the city of Lexington and the companies involved.
So far, we haven't received those documents, nor any comment from the city or Alfra Communication.
"It could be the excavator, it could be the locator, it could be both," Norden said. "We do not know."
The NTSB expects to have a preliminary report on the incident by May 9.
The Missouri State Senate passed a bill that increases responsibility for companies installing underground gas lines. Any underground facilities have to include a detectable device you can access electronically from above the surface.
State Senate approval happened to take place one day after the Lexington incident. It's now before the Missouri House of Representatives.
