PULLMAN, WA – A criminal case will not be charged against a local farmer who state investigators believe caused one of the largest natural gas outages in U.S. history.

In November of 2023 the farmer was digging drain line with a tractor and implement in a field North of Pullman when he hit the pipeline.  The rupture cased about 37,000 Avista Utilities customers on the Palouse and in the Lewiston/Clarkston Valley to lose natural gas for up to a week.  Hundreds of utilities from across the country sent crews to restore the natural gas service.  Nearly a thousand personnel helped get the gas back on.

In December of 2023 the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission heard from their investigators who looked into the incident.  Those investigators believed that the farmer broke state law and allegedly failed to notify a call center before digging.

The commission asked the Whitman County Prosecutor’s Office to review the case for a possible misdemeanor charge against the farmer.  Prosecutor Denis Tracy declined to pursue the case finding that there was no criminal intent on the part of the farmer.  You can listen to Tracy explain his decision below.

Tracy declined to prosecute the case last summer but a paperwork delay only recently made that decision public.  The commission in Olympia during their meeting in late 2023 described the natural gas outage as one of the largest in the nation’s history.