19-06-2025
UGI Utilities to pay $750,000 civil penalty for fatal gas main eruption in Monroe County
UGI Utilities will pay a $750,000 civil penalty after reaching a settlement related to a gas main eruption that resulted in a woman's death in Monroe County on Christmas Day, 2020.
The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) announced June 18 that it had voted 5-0 to approve the settlement. The PUC's independent Bureau of Investigation and Enforcement had filed a complaint against UGI in December 2023.
The eruption on Lower Swiftwater Road in Pocono Township resulted in the death of 33-year-old Ana R. Abreau, a passenger in a vehicle on the road.
Two others were injured, two residences were evacuated, some customers lost natural gas service and $80,000 in damage was caused, the PUC said.
The Monroe County District Attorney's Office announced in 2022 that there was no evidence of criminal negligence by UGI.
According to the settlement, the pipe failure occurred where two sections of plastic pipe had been heated and fused together in what is called a butt fusion. Among other terms of the settlement, the PUC said, "UGI will enhance its qualified plastic butt-fusion procedure requirements and expand butt-fusion oversight activities, including new field sampling and testing requirements."
Kathryne Rubright is the managing editor of the Pocono Record and the Tri-County Independent. Reach her at krubright@
This article originally appeared on Pocono Record: UGI Utilities, PUC reach settlement in fatal Poconos gas main eruption
