After getting home from his overnight job, Domingo Mendez holds his infant son, Mateo. In the background, his wife, Juliana, prepares breakfast for their older son, Pablo, in their Dallas kitchen. Domingo, Juliana and Pablo were badly burned in 2011 when their home exploded after a gas leak. (Smiley N. Pool / Staff Photographer)

Time Bomb | Part one How Atmos Energy’s natural gas keeps blowing up Texas homes (while customers pay the tab) After getting home from his overnight job, Domingo Mendez holds his infant son, Mateo. In the background, his wife, Juliana, prepares breakfast for their older son, Pablo, in their Dallas kitchen. Domingo, Juliana and Pablo were badly burned in 2011 when their home exploded after a gas leak. (Smiley N. Pool / Staff Photographer) They were normal Texas families, doing normal things at home: napping on the couch; rinsing off in the shower; flipping on the light. Then their houses exploded. More than two dozen homes across North and Central Texas have blown up since 2006 because of leaking natural gas, an investigation by The Dallas Morning News found. Nine people died; at least 22 others were badly injured. Atmos Energy workers check for leaks after a gas-line rupture destroyed three houses in McKinney in May 2008, sending three people to Parkland Memorial Hospital. Two later died of their injuries. Their deaths aren’t recorded in a federal safety database. (FILE PHOTO / Staff) Time Bomb A Dallas Morning News investigation Also in this series: Part two How Texas lets Atmos Energy off the hook

Methodology No agency tracks all residential natural gas accidents. Here’s how we did it. These explosions all happened along a massive network of pipelines owned and operated by Atmos Energy Corp. It’s one of country’s largest natural gas companies, headquartered in a gleaming tower on LBJ Freeway near the Galleria mall. Atmos pipes run under streets and behind homes across Dallas and Fort Worth, north to Sherman and south to College Station. No single state or federal agency tracks all natural gas accidents, making it hard to get a handle on the destruction. Not all deaths and injuries are reported, and regulatory records are sometimes contradictory or incomplete. We compiled our tally by searching thousands of regulatory records, lawsuits and news reports. We examined government documents related to pipe corrosion and other safety problems on Atmos Energy’s system. Though the company would not address individual accidents, it says it was not at fault. The count of deaths, injuries and damaged homes doesn’t include cases in which cars hit gas meters or workers got hurt on the job. But it does include cases in which Atmos did not evacuate homes after leaks caused by excavation. Atmos Energy has some of the nation’s oldest pipes, records show, leaving them vulnerable to corrosion, cracks and other dangers. The company’s largest division — Atmos Mid-Tex, which includes Dallas and Fort Worth — has received five times as many state safety-violation citations as Houston’s CenterPoint, the other large gas-distribution company in Texas. The tally of destruction Since 2006, more than two dozen homes across north and central Texas have been destroyed or damaged because of natural gas leaking from Atmos Energy’s system, an investigation by The Dallas Morning News found. Nine people died, and at least 22 others suffered injuries. No one government agency tracks all natural gas-related accidents, so we compiled this tally by searching regulatory records, lawsuits, news reports and other documents. Slide or click to read more about each explosion. 310 S. Third St., Wylie, Texas What happened: State records show a plastic gas line running to the meter separated from a part called a compression coupling in the alley behind the house. Gas migrated through soil and the sewer system and found a source of ignition in the house, blasting a couple out of their beds as they slept. Benny died instantly, Martha died later. Victims: Benny Cryer, 78, and Martha Cryer, 77, were killed. Railroad Commission decision: No fine. The draft version of the investigation suggested compression couplings should be replaced, but that was omitted from the final version. Investigators found two dozen leaks in the area after the blast. Atmos response: Other work crews had dug in the area a year before and didn’t compact the soil properly. The company settled a lawsuit filed by the family. Read the accident investigation report 2824 W. Rochelle Road, Irving, Texas What happened: A fire and explosion at the one-story brick house caused about $20,000 in property damage. Investigators later found two gas leaks near the home — including one that Atmos had first detected four months earlier and classified as nonhazardous. The other leak occurred on the steel main line in front of the home. Railroad Commission decision: The commission fined Atmos $13,000. Atmos should have monitored the first leak more closely and reclassified it as hazardous, the state said. With better monitoring, Atmos would also have found the corrosion leak on the main line. Atmos response: The company gave refresher training to its Irving technicians. Read the enforcement case file 632 Woodard Ave., Cleburne, Texas What happened: An all-electric home exploded after gas migrated inside along sewer lines, leaking from aging gas pipes in the street. A man lit a cigarette for his wife, which ignited the gas inside the home. Victims: Hazel Sanderson, 44, and Hazel Pawlik, 64, were killed. Three people were injured. Railroad Commission decision: Initially, investigators found a plastic gas pipe had separated at the compression coupling, as well as a leak on the gas main in the street (though the home was not connected to gas lines). Two years after the blast, the Railroad Commission decided not to refer the case for enforcement, saying Atmos had done its own investigation showing there was “insufficient evidence” those leaks had caused the blast. Atmos response: Atmos said other gas sources could have caused the leak. The company settled a lawsuit filed by the family. Read the accident investigation report Intersection of Fenet St. and Throckmorton St., McKinney, Texas What happened: A contractor working for Atmos hit a 3-inch gas main while replacing a line and called the company but not 911. Atmos technicians arrived an hour later and didn’t investigate whether gas had built up in the sewer lines or evacuate people in nearby homes. Three houses exploded as a result, injuring three people, two of whom died later of their injuries. One death was reported to state authorities, but neither one appears in databases kept by federal regulators because they died more than a month after the accident. Victims: Nancy Foster, 77, and Arthur Bryson, 57, were killed. One person was injured. Railroad Commission decision: The commission said Atmos failed by not checking the sewer lines for gas or following proper safety procedures, such as calling 911 or evacuating homes immediately. Atmos response: Atmos paid a $26,000 fine and settled several lawsuits related to the incident. Read the enforcement case file 2602 Syracuse Drive, Irving, Texas What happened: A man was badly burned when he lit a cigarette in his home and it exploded. Firefighters and state investigators found a leak on a compression coupling connecting the home’s service line to the gas main. The man and several of his neighbors said they had not smelled leaking gas. Victims: One person was injured. Railroad Commission decision: Atmos initially argued that the incident didn’t meet requirements for reporting to federal regulators, but the commission disagreed. Atmos didn’t follow proper emergency procedures or identify a hazardous leak quickly enough, the agency said. When the company argued that concentrations of leaking gas it found weren’t enough to have caused the explosion, the commission pointed out that the company had spent several days after the blast vacuuming excess gas from the scene. Atmos response: The company contended that the leak found at scene was too small to have caused the explosion. But Atmos paid to settle a lawsuit filed by injured man and his family. Read the pipeline failure investigation 2505 Catalina Drive, Mesquite, Texas What happened: Leaking gas caused an explosion that totaled a Mesquite home, injuring a woman inside. An Atmos technician who investigated initially said he was told by firefighters that the blast was caused by carbon monoxide, so he left without finding or eliminating the hazardous gas leak. Atmos didn’t repair the leak until 17 days after the blast, once the homeowners’ insurance company got involved. Victims: One person was injured. Railroad Commission decision: Atmos didn’t follow proper leak detection or emergency procedures. The commission initially proposed fining the company $190,000 but agreed to settle the enforcement case for $95,000. Because investigators found so many leaks on the Mesquite system, the commission forced Atmos to replace a large number of steel service lines in the city. Atmos response: Atmos paid the fine and agreed to replace steel service lines, then later complained to the commission about the cost and a lack of available workers. Read the enforcement case file 503 Martindale Drive, Lancaster, Texas What happened: Gas leaked from a seam where two plastic pipes were fused together and into the home of a sleeping couple. When the man opened his garage door to investigate the source of smoke filling the house, a fireball ignited, burning his wife. Victims: One person was injured. Railroad Commission decision: The commission cited Atmos for not preserving a section of the pipe for testing, and not submitting required reports but did not fine the company. Atmos response: Settled a lawsuit filed by the family. Read the investigation report 2813 Kessler Ave., Wichita Falls, Texas What happened: A house burned and was destroyed after an explosion that started when a woman flipped a light switch, igniting gas that had leaked into her home. Investigators found a leak on a bare steel service line under the foundation; gas had migrated through a seam in the concrete. Victims: One person was injured. Railroad Commission decision: Initially, the state had proposed fining Atmos $10,000 for not providing all information, and found that an earlier leak complaint near the home might have been ignored. But the case was ultimately not referred for enforcement. Atmos response: Atmos said it had provided the required leak-investigation report to the commission. Read the enforcement case file 3521 Finley Road, Irving, Texas What happened: Joseph Mantheiy and his wife, Peggy, were sleeping when their home exploded in the middle of the night. He was killed and she was badly burned. She later told WFAA-TV (Channel 8) she had not smelled the gas leaking from a compression coupling that connected a steel service line to the main. Victims: Joseph Mantheiy, 75, was killed. One person was injured. Railroad Commission decision: Atmos didn’t perform “continuing surveillance activities to remove or replace all steel service lines in the Irving system as required” and did not have a program in place to replace or phase out those lines. Regulators cited “Atmos Energy’s exhaustive investigation,” which said the leak identified was “not large enough” to have caused the blast. The case was dismissed without a fine three years later. Atmos response: Though a leaking coupling was discovered, in addition to 20 other leaks in the area, Atmos said that leak couldn’t have caused the fire/explosion. It asked the commission to dismiss the enforcement case after three years, “in light of the time that has passed since this matter was opened.” The company paid to settle a lawsuit filed by the family. Read the enforcement case file 331 W. Woodin Blvd., Dallas, Texas What happened: Domingo, Juliana and Pablo Mendez returned home late after a dinner with relatives; when Domingo twisted a light bulb into the kitchen fixture, the house exploded. All three were badly burned. Atmos technicians found a hazardous leak on a cast-iron gas main right behind the Mendez home that night but didn’t notify state regulators about the blast until the following morning. Firefighters said witnesses reported that lightning might have caused the blast, but weather data doesn’t show any recorded lightning strikes at that time in that area. Victims: Three people were injured. Railroad Commission decision: The commission initially proposed fining Atmos for not having a cast-iron replacement program in place and not calling state investigators within two hours of the blast, as required. Two years later, it dismissed the enforcement case after Atmos provided information to the commission that the gas source was “more likely from customer piping downstream of the Atmos service meter.” Atmos response: Though Atmos told The News that firefighters said the blast was caused by lightning, the company filed documents in a lawsuit, brought by the Mendez family, that argued that a leaking stove was to blame. Atmos paid to settle the lawsuit. Read the enforcement case file 205 Abbey Lane, Farmersville, Texas What happened: An explosion and fire at an unoccupied house in Farmersville, possibly ignited by a water heater and not discovered for a few days. No injuries reported. Railroad Commission decision: The commission’s investigation found that Atmos was upgrading low-pressure systems in the area to higher-pressure lines and was supposed to install pressure regulators on each natural gas customer’s meter equipment.The investigators found that no one had installed one at 205 Abbey Lane. The service line to the home was also missing from a map used by Atmos in the area. Atmos response: Atmos did not comment specifically on this incident but said that overall, “For matters within our control, we take appropriate voluntary corrective action.” Read the incident report 4908 Orien St., Haltom City, Texas What happened: A family was cleaning up from dinner as their home exploded in Haltom City, sending one person to the hospital. The force of the blast sent a wall on top of the gas meter, shearing it off at ground level and making it difficult to shut off gas, records show. The family said they had smelled gas on the day of the explosion, according to a fire investigator’s report. They also said they saw the gas meter on fire immediately after the blast. A compression coupling was found but was damaged by Atmos during excavation. Victims: One person was injured. Railroad Commission decision: The commission cited Atmos for not properly protecting the meter and the service line from corrosion and for not repairing a hazardous leak promptly. The state issued no fines. Atmos response: In a letter to federal regulators, Atmos said the incident did not involve gas under its purview. Read the pipeline failure investigation 501 Ferguson St., Taylor, Texas What happened: A man flicked his lighter inside the house he lived in, and it exploded into a fireball. He was burned badly, along with a friend who was present. Atmos responded but didn’t conduct a leak survey until the following day and did not report the incident to the Railroad Commission until a year later. Lawsuit depositions show a firefighter testified that an Atmos technician told him at the scene that the high gas concentrations he found were “false readings.” Victims: Two people were injured. Railroad Commission decision: The state fined Atmos $5,000 for not following proper procedures for an emergency response. It discovered the explosion only after a complaint was filed and never had a chance to investigate the explosion at the time. Atmos response: Atmos told the state that it found a gas leak the day after the blast but that the structure that burned was 15 feet away and technicians didn’t see a migration pattern. The company claimed in a lawsuit that the cause might have been sewer gas, but settled the case before it went to trial. Read the enforcement case file 520 E. Main St., Lewisville, Texas What happened: An electric company trying to install a utility pole struck a 4-inch gas distribution line owned by Atmos. Because there wasn’t an emergency shut-off valve in the area and Atmos did not turn the gas off at the nearest station, officials said, gas leaked for more than seven hours, causing an explosion that killed a man living at a duplex. Two others were injured in the blast. Victims: Scott Deahl, 55, was killed. Two people were injured. Railroad Commission decision: Saying that Atmos “failed to protect people first and then property” by not shutting off the gas or evacuating homes, the commission found five violations and fined the company $25,000. Atmos response: Atmos said it was following directions of the local firefighters, did not find gas in the sewer and was in the process of digging up a pipe to shut off the gas when the explosion happened. It paid the penalty and settled a lawsuit, records show. Read the enforcement case file 221 W. Tennie St., Gainesville, Texas What happened: A city dump truck fell into a sinkhole during a water line repair, and the crew noticed natural gas bubbling up through water while trying to dig the truck out with a backhoe. An Atmos technician arrived to disconnect homes from meters and turn gas off, but the truck’s axle had hit a service line, causing it to leak gas into sewer lines. Atmos evacuated nearby homes, but within two hours, a house exploded and burned. Atmos then evacuated everyone within a larger radius. There were no injuries. Railroad Commission decision: Atmos failed to make an emergency shutdown and minimize hazards. The state fined the company $5,000. Atmos response: Paid fine and asked commission to include specific language in consent order to “ensure no prejudice to company’s litigation rights.” Read the enforcement case file 7916 Harwood Road, North Richland Hills, Texas What happened: A 7-year-old girl was playing video games when she got up to use the bathroom and flipped on a light switch. The house exploded, blowing out windows and lifting the roof off the home. She was hospitalized with severe burns; several other family members had minor injuries. Investigators found a fused joint on a plastic pipe in the neighborhood had caused gas to leak into sewer lines. The light switch ignited the leaking gas. Victims: One person was injured. Railroad Commission decision: The state initially proposed a $50,000 fine, saying it found no evidence Atmos had any program to mitigate the threat of such leaking joints, especially in light of an earlier, 2009 explosion with an injury. But the commission withdrew the enforcement case and dismissed it without a fine. The commission maintains that Atmos achieved compliance. Atmos response: Atmos said it didn’t initially receive written notice of the alleged violations and got an extension to respond, then said it had provided the information sought by the commission. The company settled a lawsuit filed by the girl’s family. Read the enforcement case file 9430 Eloise St., Dallas, Texas What happened: A 77-year-old woman and her adult grandson received minor injuries when the house exploded after someone flipped on a light switch. Investigators found natural gas had leaked from lines at a nearby home and migrated into the sewer line. Railroad Commission decision: The commission alleged Atmos violated rules by not having a plan in place to replace failing pipes in the area, but proposed no fine. Atmos replaced the home’s service line in addition to 20 others in the area and more than 1,000 feet of plastic mains in the area. Atmos response: Previous damage to the home’s gas service pipe was caused by digging from other parties, not Atmos. The commission agreed. Read the investigation report 113 Arabian Road, Waxahachie, Texas What happened: A builder in a Waxahachie neighborhood requested line-locating services from various utilities, including Atmos. The gas utility hired a contractor to locate and mark its lines. A subcontractor hired by AT&T to install fiber optic lines hit Atmos Energy’s gas lines while digging. Gas leaked into the sewer lines. Four days later, a house exploded when a woman inside turned on her electric stove to cook a meal. Two people inside were badly injured, one other had minor injuries. The blast structurally damaged five other houses nearby. The homeowners said they were never warned about the gas leak. Victims: Two people were injured. Railroad Commission decision: Initially proposed fining Atmos as much as $97,500 for “very serious safety violations,” including allegedly not providing a response in the required time frame and its locator not marking lines accurately. In the end, the commission allowed Atmos to settle the case for $1,750. The contractor who hit the gas lines was fined $78,000. Atmos response: Did not admit fault, paid fine and settled lawsuit by homeowners. Read the enforcement case file 1511 W. 13th Ave., Corsicana, Texas What happened: A house that never had gas service exploded one night, sending family members to the hospital with minor injuries. Investigators found a gas leak from a joint where plastic pipes were fused together underground at a nearby trailer park. The gas migrated and seeped into the home through the bathtub and slab before the explosion. Railroad Commission decision: The commission found Atmos followed its emergency plan and procedures and did not refer the case for enforcement or propose a fine. Atmos response: Atmos repaired the leak. Read the investigation report 3567 Colgate Lane, Irving, Texas What happened: Atmos crews came to the neighborhood on New Year’s Eve after people called 911 to report the strong smell of gas. A woman in the home asked crew members if the family should evacuate and was told no. Irving firefighters said they were also told evacuation was unnecessary. The family went to bed; the house exploded a few hours later. The residents escaped without injury. Investigators found a gas leak on a nearby 6-inch gas main at a mechanical coupling used to join plastic pipes. Railroad Commission decision: The commission fined Atmos $16,000, saying that the company had failed to continuously monitor the leak to see if homes needed evacuating, and that a part on the leaking gas main hadn’t been installed properly to withstand wear and tear. Atmos response: The company paid the fine but admitted no violations and said the cause of the accident is still undetermined. Read the preliminary investigation report 3534 Espanola Drive, Dallas, Texas What happened: The one-story house exploded shortly before 7 a.m. Linda Rogers, 12, was getting ready for school and died from her injuries in the blast. Investigators found a crack all the way around a 2-inch steel pipe in back of the house, along with several other gas leaks in the neighborhood. Two days before that fatal blast, Atmos crews had gone out to investigate gas-related fires at two homes that shared an alley with the Rogers house. Atmos did not inform neighbors about any gas leaks or evacuate homes before the blast. Victims: Linda Rogers, 12, was killed. Four people were injured. Railroad Commission decision: The commission is still investigating the incident, as is the National Transportation Safety Board. Atmos response: Atmos officials have attributed the disaster to a confluence of heavy rains and unique soil conditions and geology. Read the preliminary NTSB report 900 O’Neal Drive, Caldwell, Texas What happened: A gas explosion occurred at the home just before midnight; the 92-year-old man who lived there escaped but suffered serious burns. Investigators found a leak on a steel service line that ran under the street to a neighbor’s house. The victim has said in court records that he intends to file a lawsuit against Atmos, alleging negligence. Victims: One person was injured. Railroad Commission decision: The commission is still investigating the accident. Atmos response: In court records, Atmos Energy denies any negligence in the accident. Read a preliminary investigation report ◀ ▶ Atmos Energy leaders say they take safety seriously and have invested $3 billion in pipeline upgrades since 2005 on their Mid-Tex system alone. The safety violations are only alleged, the company says, adding that it fixes any problems cited by the state, as required by law. The company has reported $3.3 billion in profits since 2005, with $798 million of that from the Mid-Tex system. Over the past five years, the price of Atmos Energy’s stock has more than doubled, a sharp jump compared with many of its industry peers. “Since 2005, we have been pouring profits back into the system,” says Elizabeth Beauchamp, an Atmos spokeswoman. The company sent The News a lengthy statement saying, “Our employees wake up every day resolutely dedicated to our mission to keep people safe.” Even one incident is too many, the statement says, adding, “When someone in our community gets hurt, it is deeply personal to us. We grieve.” Atmos Energy’s track record should worry Texans, a pipeline safety expert told The News. The many accidents and state safety citations over the years “suggest Atmos really needs to up its game in terms of creating a safety culture,” said Rebecca Craven, program director for the Pipeline Safety Trust, a national nonprofit group. And based on a key federal measure — the rate of significant pipeline incidents over the past decade — Atmos Energy’s performance is actually getting worse, Craven says. The company seldom accepts responsibility for explosions, records show, blaming lightning strikes and other bad weather, poor soil conditions in North Texas, mysterious sources of underground gas or careless digging by construction crews. But the company has settled numerous lawsuits filed by families affected by explosions, sometimes paying millions of dollars, records show. Many of those families declined to speak to The News for this article, citing terms of confidential lawsuit settlements. The company declined to respond to our questions about these settlements.


Old, old pipes After a family dinner at a relative’s house, Domingo and Juliana Mendez watched the Cowboys play the San Francisco 49ers on TV one Sunday evening in September 2011. They waited for the rain to pass before returning near midnight to their Oak Cliff home with their 5-year-old son, Pablo. The chain on the ceiling fixture was broken, so Domingo twisted the bulb to turn the light on. He remembers a loud blast and the rush of flames covering his body, burning all over. He woke up under a wall that had collapsed on top of him and Pablo. “I just remember hearing my son crying,” Domingo recalled recently. Pablo was badly burned, and a nail was stuck in his back. Domingo Mendez holds a charred picture of his son, Pablo. The photo was recovered from the wreckage of their old home in Oak Cliff after a gas explosion there in 2011. Both Domingo and Pablo were badly burned and live with permanent scars. (Smiley N. Pool / Staff Photographer) The Mendezes spent months in Parkland Memorial Hospital. Pablo’s burns covered most of his face, hands and body. The couple say they had no idea the pipes carrying natural gas through the neighborhood were almost 90-year-old cast iron. Atmos technicians found a large crack circling the 6-inch gas main right behind the Mendez home. Iron had leached from the pipe over time, a state report said, leaving it weak and brittle. But Dallas firefighters who responded to the blast said lightning was the cause, chalking that finding up to unnamed witnesses in a bare-bones report. Weather data shows no reports of lightning strikes in the neighborhood at that time of the day. View note Atmos Energy didn’t notify state regulators at the Railroad Commission of Texas about the blast until the next morning, leaving the company’s workers in charge of the scene until investigators arrived nearly 12 hours later. The company initially blamed lightning in state records, but later faulted a stove inside the house that they said had leaked. Dallas fire department reports make no mention of a leaking stove. Gas companies are required to tell the federal government about certain accidents — including those in which people die or are injured seriously enough to be admitted to the hospital. Federal data contains no report of the Mendez accident. The company says it initially filed a report with federal regulators but withdrew it more than a year later — after it determined a gas leak from the stove, not its own pipes, caused the blast. This happened in March 2013, exactly one month after Atmos Energy settled a lawsuit filed by the Mendez family that alleged negligence. Anatomy of an explosion: Dallas, 2011 Was it lightning, a leaking stove or aging cast iron pipes that caused the blast that destroyed the Mendez home at 331 W. Woodin Blvd. in 2011? Atmos technicians found a leak and began immediately replacing the nearly 90-year-old pipe. But they didn’t notify the Texas Railroad Commission about the explosion until the following morning. Atmos first said the blast was caused by lightning. Then it said it was a leaking stove, and the state agreed. Still, the company accelerated its plans to replace cast iron pipe in the Dallas area. Click a point to learn more. Michael Hogue / Staff Artist Atmos officials “don’t want to take responsibility for it,” Domingo Mendez says. “They try to put the blame on anything else.” Under the terms of the legal settlement, the family can’t say how much Atmos paid them. Court records show the company put at least $1.9 million into a trust for Pablo’s medical care. Atmos also speeded up the rate at which it replaced cast iron pipe. Natural gas companies have known about the dangers of such pipes since at least the 1970s, and federal officials have urged their removal since the 1980s. In 20 states and the District of Columbia, natural gas companies have done just that. But Texas hasn’t required operators to remove cast iron, and when the Mendez home exploded, Atmos Energy reported that it still had 840 miles of these pipes, all on its Mid-Tex system. Last year, it told regulators 500 miles remained. The company says it needs at least three more years to rid its system of cast iron. CenterPoint removed virtually all of its cast iron gas pipes in Houston more than two decades ago. Atmos Energy reports that it has removed its cast iron in all other states where it operates. More than a third of Atmos Energy’s pipes were installed before 1940, the company reported to federal regulators last year. Among the country’s big operators, only one, in Philadelphia, had such a significant share of old pipes. A welder hired by Atmos Energy capped an old cast-iron gas main while installing new polyethylene pipe in August 2013 near Wycliff Avenue just east of the Dallas North Tollway. (FILE PHOTO / Staff) Over time, older pipes often corrode underground, unnoticed, especially metal ones installed before more durable and flexible materials became the standard. Clay soils in North Texas add extra strain on the system. Long periods of drought cause the clay to shrink and shift, pulling on underground gas pipes and creating leaks. When rain or ice arrives, the moisture causes the soil to expand rapidly, causing more strain and trapping dangerous pockets of leaking gas under the heavier water. Federal investigations into Dallas-area gas explosions have documented the phenomenon since the 1970s, when Lone Star Gas owned and operated the pipeline system. Atmos bought Lone Star from TXU Gas in 2004. Experts say the oldest, riskiest pipes are made of cast iron or bare steel — and Atmos Energy’s North Texas division has the highest share of those in Texas. Federal rules require gas distributors to use pipes and components that can “maintain the structural integrity of the pipeline under temperature and other environmental conditions that may be anticipated.” Atmos Energy officials say that older pipes aren’t necessarily more problematic, and that only one of the accidents highlighted by The News — the 2011 Oak Cliff blast — involved pre-1940 pipes. “Although we’d like to replace all older pipelines immediately, just like with replacing older roads and bridges, replacing pipe takes time and resources,” the company said in a statement. Critics say Atmos should be replacing old pipes faster. “Atmos knows there are going to be more explosions,” says Clay Miller, a lawyer who represented the Mendezes in their lawsuit against the company. “You leave old pipes there, soil’s gonna shift, pipes are going to crack, and things are going to blow up.”


The most safety citations A lack of uniform data among states makes it hard to compare Atmos Energy’s safety record to those of other gas utilities across the country. But in Texas, the Atmos Mid-Tex division — the huge one that includes Dallas and Fort Worth — has been hit with more safety-violation citations from state inspectors than other large operators. Over the past decade, Atmos Mid-Tex has received more than 2,000 citations alleging violations of pipeline safety rules, state data shows. By contrast, the only natural gas distributor that rivals Atmos Mid-Tex in size — CenterPoint Energy — had slightly more than 400 citations over the same time period. One of the most common problems the state cited Atmos Energy for? Not protecting its gas lines from corrosion. Regulators also dinged the company more than 20 times for not replacing a kind of pipe connector with a history of problems. Atmos Energy officials noted that the number of citations peaked in 2013 and has markedly declined since then, which the company says reflects its emphasis on safety. For example, thousands of Atmos employees each year train at a high-tech facility the company opened in Plano in 2010. The training center includes a simulated community called “Gas City” with houses, streets, pipelines and meters. One recent day, several employees used a special tool to check gas levels under a manhole cover in the mock village, while others practiced connecting gas meters. Still, Atmos Mid-Tex continues to surpass the state’s other largest gas operators in annual citations. The state allows companies to correct cited problems to avoid final violations and fines. And even when companies pay a fine, they do not have to admit fault. Once a gas company finds a dangerous leak, it’s legally required to fix the pipe immediately and to keep any people nearby from harm. Atmos Energy executives have maintained in interviews and statements to The News that the company always repairs hazardous leaks “as soon as possible.” Atmos personnel train earlier this month inside a fake household residence at the company’s Plano training center called “Gas City.” (Louis DeLuca / Staff Photographer) But records show that Atmos Energy hasn’t always done so. Magdalena Tijerina and her family were in their Irving home last Dec. 31 when Atmos Energy workers knocked on the door. They told the family they were working outside to fix a gas leak. Tijerina asked if her family should leave, according to Irving Fire Department reports. The gas crew said that wasn’t necessary — the leak was in the street. Tijerina fell asleep on the couch. She awoke to find her ceiling in flames. A piece fell on her. She pushed it off, grabbed the keys to her truck and screamed at her family to get out, according to her statement. View note Anatomy of an explosion: Irving, 2018 Neighbors smelled gas in this area and called 911 last New Year’s Eve. Atmos technicians came to the scene and found a leak. Technicians reportedly told the family in the house at 3567 Colgate Lane that they didn’t need to evacuate. Then, early that morning, the house blew up. Click a point to learn more. Michael Hogue / Staff Artist Everyone in the home made it out alive. The family could not be reached for comment. The man who first called in the gas leak, Jon Higginbotham, wonders why Atmos Energy didn’t urge Tijerina’s family to evacuate. Higginbotham was leaving his mom’s house nearby that night when the stench of gas overwhelmed his pregnant wife. “These pipes get old and they leak, I get that,” Higginbotham says. “We all understand nothing lasts forever — but you can at least evacuate those people and make sure they’re safe.” The state faulted Atmos for not monitoring the leak throughout the night to see if homes should have been evacuated. What caused the leak? A connector on the gas main hadn’t been installed properly to withstand wear and tear, the state found. It cited Atmos Energy for that, too. Regulators fined Atmos $16,000, which the company paid. In an Aug. 23 letter to the state, Atmos said it does not admit to any alleged safety violations and that the accident’s cause remains unclear. Third-party damage Pipes can also spring leaks when work crews damage them, digging to repair sewer lines, say, or installing fence posts. Atmos Energy says damage by others is the most common cause of gas leaks on its system. But in several cases in which Atmos didn’t cause the leak, the company still failed to shut off gas or evacuate homes before someone was hurt or killed, records show.