Explosion at Chandler Mall leads to agreement to remove miles of dangerous pipes

CHANDLER, Ariz. – Southwest Gas agreed to pay more than $2 million and work to remove certain portions of the pipes after a gas leak explosion in Chandler three years ago.

The blast caused damage to businesses along Ray and rural roads and seriously injured four people.

The new pipes could impact thousands of people in the Valley. Ultimately, it will be nearly 1,000 miles of pipes near homes and businesses.

This decision was made based on a consent decree resulting from an investigation and was entered between Office of Pipeline Safety – part of the Arizona Corporation Commission, and Southwest Gas.

“It was a shock, a complete devastation,” said Tom Ryan, a trial attorney for Platinum Printing and the Ryan brothers.

“The metal was bent, the doors flew 200 feet, it was just an incredible, shocking sight. And I’m still amazed today – as badly as they were burned – that he lived to tell,” Ryan said .

The explosion at the Chandler in a comic book shop, four people were seriously injured, including Ryan’s customers who ran the printing shop.

Investigators later discovered that a gas leak was the cause.

READ MORE: Chandler community is in shock after an explosion at the business left four people seriously injured

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“This particular pipe, called Drisco M8000, had a manufacturing defect that allowed it to break off in the Arizona heat. And when it degrades, it cracks, and when it cracks, it leaks gas,” Ryan said.

The consent agreement revealed that this pipe type is susceptible to oxidation and degradation under the Arizona heat.

“This was a problematic pipe. Southwest Gas was aware of the problems with the pipe and they tried to do a number of things to get it under control. The problem is when the pipe breaks, it doesn’t break if it breaks. a schedule. That’s what we found in this particular case,” Ryan said.

He says this isn’t an isolated problem either.

“Every residential area in Arizona and business district in Arizona has access to natural gas, and there’s over ten thousand miles of the Drisco M8000 pipeline that’s out there that’s failing. And if it fails, it could be very catastrophic,” Ryan said.

That’s why, after an investigation, Southwest Gas entered into a consent agreement that includes three key provisions:

First, certain pipes must be abandoned or removed within six months.

“This pipe failing prematurely — the M8000 must be abandoned or removed within six months of the completion of this consent agreement — that’s very significant, that’s very fast when you look at all the pipes that are out there,” Ryan said.

Second, Southwest Gas has agreed to increase patrols for these types of pipelines, and others, six times a year.

That is a significant increase compared to previous quarterly or annual patrols.

“Finally, they agreed to issue a $2 million civil penalty to the state general fund. And the biggest thing about that is that Southwest can’t use that $2 million fine to go back and ask for a fare increase,” Ryan said.

In a statement, Southwest Gas said:

Southwest Gas worked closely with the Arizona Corporation Commission’s Office of Pipeline Safety during the investigation of the Scottsdale and Chandler incidents to identify root causes and opportunities to improve the safety, service and reliability of our infrastructure in the state of Arizona . The Consent Agreement is a result of these efforts and ensures that the insights gained from this process will lead to positive changes that reflect Southwest Gas’ continued commitment to safely delivering natural gas services to our customers and communities that we serve.