West Side Gas Outage: Mountaineer Gas Files Civil Action Against West Virginia American Water

Mountaineer Gas Company filed a lawsuit against West Virginia American Water Company Monday in response to a three week gas outage on the West Side of Charleston. 

When a water main ruptured on Nov. 10, water flooded mountaineer gas lines, leaving around 1,500 residents without access to natural gas. 

Hundreds of residents had appliances damaged or destroyed, which Mountaineer Gas is currently having replaced or fixed. Mountaineer Gas blamed the outage on the failure of West Virginia American Water facilities.

“We firmly believe the interruption of gas service to our customers is a direct result of the failure of the West Virginia American Water Company facilities, and we feel West Virginia American Water should be responsible for the significant costs incurred by Mountaineer,” said Senior Vice President Moses Skaff

Mountaineer Gas, in their lawsuit, demanded that all the costs of the gas outage be paid for by the water company. 

West Virginia American Water said that any speculation on the cause of its main line water break, or the gas outage is premature until an investigation is complete. 

“West Virginia American Water continues to reiterate that any speculation on the cause of its water main break or the Mountaineer Gas outage is premature until an investigation is complete. The company will fully cooperate with the Public Service Commission on its general investigation to determine the cause,” said Megan Hannah, spokesperson for West Virginia American Water.