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PLUM – TribLive is reporting…Stating that he is “extremely concerned” after a house blew up in Plum over the weekend, killing six people and causing catastrophic damage, Gov. Josh Shapiro has broadened the probe into the disaster by ordering the state Department of Environmental Protection to launch an investigation.
The governor’s directive was issued earlier this week, even as another state agency — the independent Public Utility Commission, which regulates utilities — sent pipeline safety engineers to the blast site in the Rustic Ridge neighborhood.
As well, the Office of the State Fire Commissioner is now assisting the Allegheny County fire marshal and his team.
Plum, a borough that stretches over nearly 30 square miles, is home to several gas wells, a natural gas pipeline, abandoned mines and a long-burning underground mine fire.
Residents are unnerved by the fact that five houses have exploded in their community since the mid-1990s, though Allegheny County officials said there is no sign of a unifying source, cause or origin.
Some have raised questions about whether any of the gas drilling or mining in the area is to blame, or if methane seeping from the ground might somehow be at fault.
SCRANTON, Pa. (AP) — President Joe Biden privately paid his respects Thursday to the mother of U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, who died last week in Biden’s hometown of Scranton.
Biden arrived at St. Peter’s Cathedral before visiting hours for Ellen Casey, who also was a former first lady of Pennsylvania. She was 91, and the widow of Pennsylvania Gov. Robert P. Casey.
Talking to reporters before and after the flight, Biden said Ellen Casey was an honorable and decent woman. He said he wanted to attend her funeral Friday but had previously been scheduled to meet with the leaders of Japan and South Korea at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland.
The president’s motorcade drove through the blue-collar town he grew up in, passing motorways and streets named after him. His house was only blocks away from the Casey household. He flew to Camp David after leaving Pennsylvania.
