The Kanawha County Board of Education and Mountaineer Gas have settled a case in which Mountaineer officials alleged that "a fire or explosion could easily have occurred" last month at Capital High School.
The settlement, approved by the West Virginia Public Service Commission on Wednesday, will permanently disconnect lines running from Capital High to a gas well on school property. The well is owned by Spencer-based Reserve Oil and Gas. Lawyers for Reserve and the PSC staff did not join the legal agreement, but did not oppose it.
The terms of the settlement call for the gas from Reserve's well to be pumped into Mountaineer's lines and for the Board of Education to receive a monthly credit on its bill from Mountaineer for the free gas it had been receiving from Reserve's well. Mountaineer will be the sole provider of gas to the school.
Mountaineer and school officials agree that the settlement will result in the safe supply of gas to the high school in the future, but the settlement ensured there would be no findings of fact of what occurred at Capital High on Jan. 6.
Mountaineer has said that a frozen gas valve over-pressurized the school's pipes, leading to damage of a school boiler and a gas leak in the school's kitchen. In a Jan. 12 letter, a company lawyer said the use of raw gas from Reserve "could easily have led to death, serious injury and/or serious property damage."
Kanawha school officials denied that, arguing that there was no leak in the school. They admit that a valve was frozen and the school was over-pressurized, but Superintendent Ron Duerring and others said a relief valve on the building eliminated any chance of fire or explosion.
The settlement agreement says it "does not signify either party's acceptance of or objection to the factual or legal allegations made by or attributed to the other party in other filings in this case."
During a short PSC hearing on the case Wednesday, only one witness was called to testify.
Almost all of the questions asked of Thomas Westfall, Mountaineer's director of gas supply and technical services, related to the settlement's economic impact for Mountaineer, Reserve and the Board of Education.
The safety of Capital High's more than 1,200 students and 300 staff members was addressed only after PSC Chairman Mike Albert interjected.
"The economic benefits of the deal have been presented for Mountaineer, the board and Reserve," Albert said. "You didn't mention the safety issue."
After Westfall reassured commissioners that the settlement would end Mountaineer's safety and liability concerns at Capital High, the three-member PSC took a short recess and then voted to approve the settlement.
Some parents of Capital High students said they were glad safety concerns have been resolved moving forward, but they were still troubled by the lack of information regarding the Jan. 6 incident and frustrated by the slow communication from Duerring and other school officials.
"I am very upset that we were not notified and that Ron Duerring brushed it under the rug," said Summer Johnson, the mother of a 16-year-old Capital student.
Kanawha school board members learned about the incident from reporters last week, and a letter from Duerring and Capital High Principal Larry Bailey was sent home with Capital students earlier this week, after the Gazette-Mail reported the incident. The letter is the exact same statement that Duerring provided to the Gazette-Mail on Jan. 30.
"I want to know that in the future, if there is a problem, I will be aware of it," Johnson said.
Only one Capital High parent attended the Board of Education's meeting Monday and questioned the board about the school's gas connections.
During Wednesday's PSC hearing, Withrow said both sides negotiated in good faith, and that the Board of Education accepted Mountaineer's request to remove the school's direct connection to Reserve's well in order reach a deal in the case.
"It was done as an accommodation to get this done," Withrow said. "It's not any reflection, as far as Kanawha County schools is concerned, of the safety of Reserve's gas."
The settlement, Withrow said, should calm any concerns that people might have about the safety of gas service to Capital High.
"Since it resolves the concerns of Mountaineer Gas, that ought to be satisfactory for the public, parents and students," he said.
PSC staff said Wednesday that their concern over the odorization of Reserve's gas, which allows people to smell the fuel, was unfounded. After testing the Reserve well they said the gas did have enough natural odor, even though it did not have mercaptan, a chemical odorizer, added to it.
When asked whether parents should be satisfied that the facts of the Jan. 6 incident remain unresolved, Withrow emphasized that no students, teachers or property were hurt.
"I can't speak for the parents," Withrow said. "While there was an incident on the 6th, it didn't cause any damage."
Reach Andrew Brown at andrew.brown@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-4814 or follow @Andy_Ed_Brown on Twitter