BOZEMAN – NorthWestern Energy is facing another lawsuit stemming from a natural-gas explosion last year that killed one woman and destroyed half a city block.
Steve Zabel, who owns Montana Trails Gallery, says the energy company and its senior manager of gas system integrity knew or should have known that a threaded connector in the service line behind the gallery was substandard and could fail. Zabel’s art gallery was destroyed in the blast.
His lawsuit, filed in District Court on March 4, says NorthWestern instituted a replacement and assessment policy a decade ago to minimize the possibility of leaks occurring because of threaded connections. The energy company does not dispute that it rescinded the policy, but says the pipeline and threaded joint met safety standards.
Zabel is seeking punitive damages and “a sufficient amount to compensate” for his lost artwork.
NorthWestern is facing about a dozen lawsuits related to the March 5 explosion, which killed 36-year-old Tara Reistad Bowman.