Kathy Pinna
Family sues utility . . .
. . . for deadly gas explosion
CHICAGO -- The family of a photographer killed in a series of fiery natural gas explosions that rocked an entire neighborhood have filed a lawsuit against Peoples Gas, Light and Coke Co.
The father and sister of Alan Bass filed suit in Cook County Court Friday, accusing the utility of failing to properly monitor and regulate pressure in its natural gas distribution system. Four people died as a result of the Jan. 17 blasts that destroyed or damaged 18 buildings.
Bass, 40; makeup artist Victoria Opeka, 31; and actor Steven Hoenig, 19, were killed when Bass's apartment building exploded, trapping them in his basement photographer's studio.
Frances Kosiba, 75, died two weeks later of burns.
Attorney Philip Corboy is representing Hoenig's mother and brother in a damage suit and relatives of Opeka have filed a negligence suit. The wrongful death suit alleges workers failed to follow proper procedures in bypassing all regulators in the system, allowing high- pressure gas to enter homes and businesses. The suit seeks to recover all medical and funeral expenses and unspecified damages.
Peoples Gas announced Friday it will install a safety device in a new gas distribution system in the near Northwest Side neighborhood.
The federal agency asked Peoples Gas to install excess flow valves on new gas lines, but the utility at first said the safety devices -- designed to close if gas surges -- were too costly and undependable.
However, a Peoples Gas spokesman says the utility will install newer models of excess flow valves that have proven cost-effective.
The cause of the gas surge is still under investigation, but the state's top utility regulator says 'human error' cannot be ruled out.
- UPI February 8, 1992
CHICAGO -- The family of a photographer killed in a series of fiery natural gas explosions that rocked an entire neighborhood have filed a lawsuit against Peoples Gas, Light and Coke Co.
The father and sister of Alan Bass filed suit in Cook County Court Friday, accusing the utility of failing to properly monitor and regulate pressure in its natural gas distribution system. Four people died as a result of the Jan. 17 blasts that destroyed or damaged 18 buildings.
Bass, 40; makeup artist Victoria Opeka, 31; and actor Steven Hoenig, 19, were killed when Bass's apartment building exploded, trapping them in his basement photographer's studio.
Frances Kosiba, 75, died two weeks later of burns.
Attorney Philip Corboy is representing Hoenig's mother and brother in a damage suit and relatives of Opeka have filed a negligence suit. The wrongful death suit alleges workers failed to follow proper procedures in bypassing all regulators in the system, allowing high- pressure gas to enter homes and businesses. The suit seeks to recover all medical and funeral expenses and unspecified damages.
Peoples Gas announced Friday it will install a safety device in a new gas distribution system in the near Northwest Side neighborhood.
The federal agency asked Peoples Gas to install excess flow valves on new gas lines, but the utility at first said the safety devices -- designed to close if gas surges -- were too costly and undependable.
However, a Peoples Gas spokesman says the utility will install newer models of excess flow valves that have proven cost-effective.
The cause of the gas surge is still under investigation, but the state's top utility regulator says 'human error' cannot be ruled out.
- UPI February 8, 1992
