CHARLESTON – Second verse, same as the first.
Mountaineer Gas Company has filed another lawsuit blaming West Virginia-American Water Company for a gas outage caused by the rupture of a high-pressure water main.
The lawsuit, filed February 3 in Kanawha Circuit Court, is similar to one Mountaineer Gas filed in December 2023 that said the rupture of a water line on Charleston’s West Side was so powerful it punctured a gas line, allowing water to flow into gas pipelines and into homes, businesses and gas appliances. That outage left more than 1,100 customers without gas service for more than a week.
This time, the rupture occurred in South Charleston. Water again flowed into Mountaineer Gas pipelines in the Thomas Road vicinity on December 6, 2024, and resulted in an interruption of gas services, according to the newest complaint.
“Because the water in this line is highly pressurized, water erupted from the rupture point and spewed out of the main at enormous pressure,” the complaint states. “This flow of water came into contact with Mountaineer’s gas line buried in the vicinity of the water main.”
The complaint says the City of South Charleston reported a water main leak to WVAWC, and a water company crew investigated, marked the water line with paint, set out cones and then left the area.
“At some point after the water main ruptured, the pressurized flow of water cut into Mountaineer’s gas line adjacent to the point of rupture and water infiltrated Mountaineer’s gas lines,” the complaint states. “As a result, significant volumes of WVAW’s water and debris continuously flowed into Mountaineer’s gas distribution pipelines.”
The gas company says the infiltration of water and debris in the gas line and distribution system interfered with the flow of gas and, in turn, interrupted service to Mountaineer Gas customers.
Mountaineer says it first was notified of service outages on December 8, and a crew responded the same day. It says WVAWC also was notified of the gas outage on December 8, but the water company didn’t return to the area until the next morning, meaning the rupture went unrepaired for three days.
Mountaineer says the flow of water into the gas distribution system caused damage to the gas lines, resulting in more than $13,000 in expenses so far to repair the lines and expects more.
“Further, Mountaineer faces potential claims from affected customers and future costs associated with repairs to the affected lines,” the complaint states.
Mountaineer accuses the water company of negligence and trespass, also saying WVAWC failed to exercise reasonable care in its operations, including maintaining its pipe, controlling the flow of water and monitoring its pipeline system to detect leaks, ruptures and other malfunctions.
The gas company seeks compensatory damages, attorney fees, court costs and other relief.
The 2023 case involving Charleston’s West Side still is pending after having been moved to the state Business Court Division. In recent months of the discovery phase, the court has signed off on an amended order to have pipelines inspected.
Mountaineer Gas is being represented by Booth Goodwin, Benjamin B. Ware and Richard D. Owen of Goodwin & Goodwin in Charleston. The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge Richard D. Lindsay.
Kanawha Circuit Court case number 25-C-143