Federal officials have released an initial report on the deadly apartment explosion in Dallas’ Oak Cliff neighborhood late last month. A footnote included in the report says the gas line that was hit by a contractor crew wasn’t marked.
The initial report from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) largely recounts what is already publicly known about the explosion: that it happened just after 1 p.m. on May 28, left three people dead, injured at least six other people, and forced nearby homes and apartments to evacuate. However, the footnotes reveal that a company – identified as Engineering and Consulting Services Southwest (ECS) – had submitted a Texas 811 ticket on May 21.
The NTSB notes that Texas 811 is a centralized system that excavators are legally required to call at least two business days prior to starting a digging project to notify the gas company.
The footnote says that while the locations of some gas lines were marked with painting and flagging, the location of the gas line that was struck by a third-party contractor had not been identified and marked. A map provided by the NTSB showed the location of the service line that was hit and where the leak was.
Dallas Fire-Rescue officials said the leak at the Clyde apartment building was first reported at 12:47 p.m. The explosion happened shortly after.
In the aftermath of the explosion, an attorney for the apartment complex said in a statement shared with CBS News Texas that Barba Drilling, the third-party contractor that was also identified in the NTSB’s initial report, was photographed at the site before the leak and subsequent explosion.
The NTSB’s initial report lists a handful of agencies as parties to the investigation, including Dallas Fire-Rescue and Atmos Energy. It also noted the natural gas main and section of service line were both installed in 1988.