Utilities regulators have fined Connecticut Natural Gas $25,000 for a pipeline safety violation discovered in Wethersfield last year.
A distribution crew of CNG, a subsidiary of UIL Holdings Corp., used the wrong fitting during an Aug. 25 procedure on Wells Road to isolate a section of gas main in preparation for abandonment, according to the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority.
Shortly after capping a plastic leg of pipe, the cap blew off, spraying natural gas for approximately 25 minutes, PURA said, and causing public safety officials to shut down nearby Route 175. CNG also failed to properly inspect the fitting, it said.
The six members of the crew went through a retraining in late August.
CNG, which has 20 days to request a hearing on the fine, will not be permitted to recover the cost of the fine from a contractor or insurance company, PURA wrote. If it does, PURA will require the recovered funds to be returned to ratepayers.
Eversource Energy’s Yankee Gas was hit with a similar fine last year.
