WASHINGTON, DC (AP) – Federal safety investigators issued a subpoena to the PA Public Utility Commission for documents related to a fatal explosion at a Berks County chocolate factory. The National Transportation Safety Board said the Commission has refused to provide unredacted inspection and investigation reports for UGI Utilities Inc., the natural gas utility at the center of the probe into the March 24 blast at the R.M. Palmer Co. plant in West Reading. The powerful natural gas explosion killed seven people. The Public Utility Commission says state law protects “confidential security information” about key utility infrastructure from public disclosure, even to other government agencies.
