Equitrans appeals ruling in lawsuit over Greene explosion
Equitrans appealed to the state Superior Court after a Greene County judge denied its motion for relief in a lawsuit over a 2018 house fire in Morgan Township.
The state Attorney General’s office filed a felony charge in 2023 against Equitrans for violating the Pennsylvania Clean Streams law after a grand jury accused the company of failing to investigate long-known methane leakage at the Pratt Storage Field, which sat below the house.
Residents Cody White and Samantha Adamson were in the house with their 4-year-old son James at the time of the explosion, which was set off when Cody lit the stove to make macaroni and cheese for his son. All three suffered severe burns over more than 60% of their body, then-Attorney General Michelle Henry said when charges were announced.
The state also filed three misdemeanor charges against Equitrans, alleging it violated prohibitions against discharge of industrial waste and pollution, and regulations protecting the water supply.
Equitrans filed a motion to dismiss the felony charge, arguing that the interstate gas pipeline facility was subject to federal jurisdiction that would preempt a state prosecution over safety standards. It also sought a dismissal of the three misdemeanor charges.
In a Feb. 9 ruling, Senior Judge Stephanie Domitrovich denied both motions.
At the same time as it filed an application for permissive appeal of the ruling on the felony charge, it also filed an application asking Domitrovich to allow them to file an immediate appeal.
Equitrans argued there was “substantial ground for difference of opinion” on whether state or federal law would apply in the case, and that an immediate appeal could “materially advance the ultimate termination of the case.”
If the felony count were dismissed over the jurisdiction issue, removing the most legally complex issue in the case “would essentially cut the case in half,” Equitrans said in the application.
In its response, the state argued the delays caused by appeal could make the original events harder to recall for the witnesses, who would also have to testify in multiple trials if the cases are severed.
The attorney general’s office also contested Equitrans’ contention that the jurisdictional issue was a “controlling question of law,” as the four counts could be decided separately.
A March 30 ruling by Domitrovich denied the request to file for immediate appeal. The same day, she directed Equitrans to file a statement of errors complained of on the appeal within 21 days.
The state attorney general’s office declined to comment on the case Friday. EQT, which now owns Equitrans, had not responded to a request for comment by deadline Friday.
At a plea court hearing Tuesday, Domitrovich ruled in favor of Equitrans’ oral motion for an early return date on subpoenas for documents. They will be due by May 7.
No new hearing date has been set.