HARRISBURG (AP) – PA utility regulators must turn over inspection records to the National Transportation Safety Board as part of the federal investigation into a fatal explosion at a Berks County chocolate factory. A federal judge sided with the safety board in its dispute with the PA Public Utility Commission. The state agency had refused to share the inspection reports, citing a state law that makes them confidential. The judge gave utility regulators seven days to turn them over to the safety board. The March 2023 blast at the R.M. Palmer Co. plant in West Reading killed seven people. Investigators are looking at a pair of gas leaks as a possible cause. Palmer was fined over $44,000 by OSHA for failing to evacuate. Palmer denied it violated any workplace safety standards and contested the OSHA citations.
