On Feb. 1, the house of Trista Meehan at 2016 Villard Av. in St. Paul's Highland Park neighborhood was destroyed in an explosion and fire after a workman trying to unclog her sewer breached a gas line that he didn't know had accidentally been bored crossways through the pipe about 20 years before.
An aspiring musician, Meehan lost nearly all of her possessions, including original songs, instruments, childhood journals and irreplaceable heirlooms.
THE LATEST: On Wednesday, Meehan sued Xcel Energy Inc. and Quanta Services Inc., the installer of the gas pipeline, in Ramsey County District Court, saying the danger in St. Paul still exists.
The suit claims that Xcel and Quanta launched a massive gas line relocation effort in St. Paul using a technique called "blind boring." Instead of digging a trench, the pipe is tunneled through the ground.
The suit claims that "Xcel and Quanta were aware of 150 'cross bores' where their gas lines had been installed through sewer lines," according to her attorney, Stuart Goldenberg of Minneapolis. "There were six punctured existing gas lines; three of them resulted in explosions, causing significant damages to the residents and their property.
"Despite the companies' knowledge of this danger and the adequate technology to inspect the defective gas lines, Xcel and Quanta did little to correct the problem," the suit asserts.
THE WIDER EFFECT: Four days after the explosion, the Minnesota Department of Public Safety ordered Xcel to come up with a plan to address the issue of cross bores, or face a $1 million fine.
The utility unveiled a plan to scope every sewer line in its service area over the next three years.
