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Mahathiraj v. Columbia Gas of Ohio12/24/1992
PEGGY BRYANT, Judge.
Defendant-appellant, Columbia Gas of Ohio, Inc. ("Columbia Gas"), appeals from a judgment of the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas granting the summary judgment motion of defendant-appellee, Columbus Metropolitan Housing Authority ("CMHA"), as to Columbia Gas contribution and indemnity claims against CMHA.
The present litigation arises out of a natural gas explosion on July 19, 1989, in which plaintiffs allegedly were injured.
The facts submitted in the summary judgment proceedings in the trial court indicate that at approximately 2:00 a.m. on July 19, 1989, various individuals in stolen cars participated in a "demolition derby" in the Caldwell Place section of the Sawyer Manor housing complex operated by CMHA. As a result of these activities, one of the cars rammed into the side of a building located at 940 Caldwell Place and damaged some above-ground natural gas pipes located along the outside of the building. A large natural gas leak resulted. Columbus police officers at the Sawyer Manor complex reported the gas leak to a Columbia Gas dispatcher at approximately 2:05 a.m. The dispatcher relayed the information tsa nearby Columbia Gas customer service center, and a Columbia Gas service representative was sent to the scene. The service representative arrived at the complex at approximately 2:30 aim.
The natural gas distribution system for the Sawyer Manor complex is jointly controlled by Columbia Gas and CMHA in what is termed a "master meter" system. Under this system, Columbia Gas initially meters gas, via Columbia Gas gas lines, into a centrally located brick building, called the Brick House, that contains a master meter, a regulator and a central shut-off valve for the complex; CMHA then submeters the gas from the Brick House to individual apartment units at a lower "house" pressure via CMHA-owned gas lines. CMHA owns the Brickhouse, and Columbia Gas owns both the equipment inside the building as well as file lock to the building. Gas to the complex can be shut off at various points in the distribution system: at the central shut-off valve in the Brick House, at a three inch plug valve in a curb box belonging to Columbia Gas, and at various underground valves owned by CMHA located downstream from the Brick House.
When the Columbia Gas representative arrived at the complex, he noticed gas was leaking from a "meter riser," a pipe running from the ground to a meter located several feet above the ground on the outside of the apartment building that had been struck. He attempted unsuccessfully to shut off the gas. The record indicates the Columbia Gas representative initially sent to the complex was unfamiliar with the gas distribution system in place, and failed to recognize that the gas leak involved a master meter system rather than the more normal single service hookup for one apartment. Thus, although he had a key to the lock on the Brick House, he failed to unlock the building or investigate what was inside it; and, he was unable to find the curb box containing a shut-off valve, even after the dispatcher described its location to him. At 2:40 a.m. the first Columbia Gas representative requested assistance. The fire department contacted CMHA shortly before 3:00 a.m. and requested that CMHA's maintenance personnel also assist in locating the curb box.
A second Columbia Gas service representative arrived at approximately 3:10 a.m. and after about fifteen minutes located the curb box containing the shut-off valve. The second Columbia Gas representative lacked the tools required to shut off the valve, however, and radioed for further assistance at about 3:30 a.m. At approximately 3:35 a.
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