MARC JACOBS
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. - U.S. Senator Jerry Moran was in Hutchinson on Friday morning to meet with city officials to get an update from their perspective of the gas explosion from last Saturday. He talked about what he learned from this trip.
“I was able to get away from Washington, DC, late last night, and came to Kansas. We certainly have been following the damage and destruction that's occurred as a result of a gas leak here in Hutchinson. “ said Moran. “And I wanted to hear from city officials if there was you know, what was transpiring.”
He’s concerned about making sure that this doesn’t happen again. He talked about the federal involvement in this investigation.
“The National Traffic Safety Board has been here investigating why a pipeline would rupture, and I had conversations with the chair of that board this morning by phone. And in addition to that, there are pipeline safety regulations in the Department of Commerce, in the Commerce Committee that I am a member of, so we're just trying to make sure that what needs to be done is taking place, and offer our help.
Moran continued to say that he wants to know what Kansas Gas plans are in regards to safety.
“a takeaway for me is I think this community would like to know what Kansas gasses plans are in regard to making certain that the pipelines that currently are under the streets of the city are safe now and in the future.”
He said a second component moving forward that we need assurances from the utility that things are safe.
“A second component of that is a look into the future to have Kansas Gas reassure the citizens of Hutchinson, its public officials, that the that the safety that should be here is here, and that if there's things that need to be improved, or modifications or modernization needs to take place, that that's going to be taking taking place here, that we want to see that things are safe” said Moran.