Federal Report: Faulty Gas Pipes Caused Deadly Mississippi Home Explosions

A federal investigation revealed that two deadly natural gas explosions in Jackson, Mississippi last January resulted from underground pipes disconnecting due to expanding clay soil. The blasts killed an 82-year-old woman and destroyed multiple homes, with investigators citing safety failures by Atmos Energy Corp.

JACKSON, Miss. — Federal investigators have determined that two fatal natural gas explosions that leveled homes in Jackson, Mississippi during January 2024 occurred when underground utility lines became disconnected from their joints due to shifting clay soil conditions, according to a report released Thursday by federal safety officials.

The initial blast claimed the life of 82-year-old Clara Barbour.

The National Transportation Safety Board determined that Atmos Energy Corp., the Dallas-based gas utility serving the area, had identified the gas leaks prior to the explosions but failed to classify them as requiring immediate attention. Federal investigators also concluded that the company inadequately assessed pipeline risks, delayed necessary repairs, and provided insufficient training to community members and emergency responders regarding gas leak protocols. The board called for enhanced regulatory scrutiny of the utility.

“Atmos has had significant safety shortfalls in recent years,” investigators stated. “Thus, Atmos’s multistate operations require broader oversight.”

Company representative Bobby Morgan responded that safety continues to be “our highest priority.”

“We will work diligently in the coming days and weeks to evaluate the findings as part of our ongoing safety efforts to further our vision to be the safest provider of natural gas services,” Morgan stated.

Atmos Energy provides natural gas service across Colorado, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.

The January 24 explosion and resulting fire in southern Jackson killed Clara Barbour and caused minor injuries to her spouse, Johnny Barbour. A second blast occurred three days afterward, approximately three-quarters of a mile from the first incident, completely destroying one residence and damaging an adjacent home. That explosion resulted in no casualties.

Federal investigators determined that both incidents involved gas supply lines that had become detached from their connections as surrounding soil shifted, creating hazardous gas accumulations that triggered the explosions.

The Jackson region sits above Yazoo clay, a soil type that swells during wet periods and shrinks during dry conditions. This soil movement not only damages building foundations and roadways but can also cause pipeline disconnections. The pipe connections installed by Atmos’s predecessor company lack resistance to separation forces, investigators found. The safety board recommended that Atmos locate and replace all such vulnerable connections.

The gas leak at the Barbour residence was first identified on November 17, 2023, when residents detected the chemical additive mixed into natural gas for safety purposes. An Atmos worker classified the leak as non-threatening, placing it on a repair schedule that could extend beyond one year. The leak at the second explosion site was discovered December 1 but received an even lower priority rating, with repairs scheduled within three years.

Following the explosion, the company reassessed Jackson-area leaks and identified several that posed greater risks than originally determined, the report noted.

Safety investigators criticized Atmos for inadequate threat assessment regarding expansive soil conditions, pointing out that regulators had issued warnings about this hazard since 2008. The NTSB had previously identified expanding soil as a contributing factor in a 2018 Atmos explosion in Dallas that resulted in one death and four injuries.

Investigators noted that Atmos maintained varying safety protocols across different states, and that implementing the more rigorous standards used in Kansas could have prevented the Mississippi explosions.

“Atmos’s siloed state operations, including leak monitoring procedures that differed by state, demonstrate that Atmos has not applied lessons learned in one state to the other states it operates in,” the board concluded.