The fatal explosion occurred May 23 at an apartment building in the Oak Cliff neighborhood near the Dallas Zoo. Among the three fatalities was one child.
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Atmos received repeated advanced notifications of potential gas leaks near the site of a recent fatal explosion, according to a new lawsuit and documents reviewed by a Texas newspaper.
Moreover, the piping material cited as faulty in the lawsuit had been the subject of state investigations, according to the report published in The Dallas Morning News.
The fatal explosion at issue occurred May 23 at an apartment building in the Oak Cliff neighborhood near the Dallas Zoo. Among the three fatalities was one child. Families of various residents harmed by the blast have filed litigation or contacted lawyers, according to news reports.
Dallas Fire-Rescue Assistant Fire Chief James Russ has said that DFR crews had responded to a reported gas leak at the apartment complex prior to the explosion, and that more than 70 units and 120 firefighters responded afterward.
Then this week, on June 23, a judge ordered Atmos Energy to preserve evidence as a lawsuit unfolds over the explosion. The lawsuit blames the Dallas-based utility for failing to repair repeated gas leaks, for failing to replace an aging plastic pipeline linked 20 years ago to leaks and explosions, and for failing to properly mark underground gas lines.
“The evidence in this case will show that Atmos Energy’s grossly negligent marking of its pipeline in the wrong location, combined with its conscious decision to operate its natural gas distribution system with known leaks — which are, disturbingly, a source of profit to the company — caused this horrific but easily preventable tragedy,” Dallas-based attorney Chris Hamilton wrote in the filing on behalf of Eric Peters, who survived the explosion and is seeking $1 billion in damages.
Atmos has disputed that one of the types of pipe material highlighted in the filing —Poly 1 — was present at the site, according to the Dallas Morning News. Atmos also said it hired a professional line locator to find the gas line prior to the explosion. The utility said in emails included in court documents that it would abide by its “preservation obligations,” according to the newspaper.
The Morning News also has reported that investigators have not yet declared a cause for the blast, but that records show that Atmos had repeatedly been notified of gas leaks on the block for more than a year before the explosion. The newspaper reported that a diagram its reporters examined shows the existence of a gas line where drilling had occurred in front of the apartment complex, and that “a photograph in the filing appears to show that the spot was not marked as having an underground gas line.”
Although the National Transportation Safety Board will likely release a preliminary report on the blast soon, its full investigation may take more than a year, according to the Morning News.
Details of the Newspaper Investigation
In an extensive June 22 investigation, The Dallas Morning News further reported that Atmos had repeatedly sent crews to various locations near the site for gas line repairs. At the apartment complex itself, The News reported, an excavator submitted an emergency 811 ticket on behalf of Atmos on March 20, 2026. Contacting Texas811 triggers notifications to phone, electric, cable, gas, and other utilities to send out locators to mark lines so digging can occur safely, according to the newspaper.
“Crew en route, Customers with service, Gas is leaking,” the March ticket stated.
However, Atmos didn’t submit a response to 811 indicating whether it had gone out to mark lines, the newspaper reported.
“Over the next two months, the excavator renewed the 811 ticket on Atmos’ behalf every 10 to 12 days. The 811 ticket renewal on May 15 was still in effect the day of the explosion,” the newspaper reported.
You can read the full Dallas Morning News report here.