Concerns About CSST

     If your home was built in the past few years it may have a hidden hazard. I uncovered some information about natural gas tubing that now has Duke Energy concerned. 

    The issue here is a relatively new product called corrugated stainless steel tubing-- or CCST. It's being used in a lot of new homes and is believed to be responsible for several house fires.

     Jennifer Wright brought this to my attention after she moved into her new house in Lebanon. Jennifer Wright says "there was a gas furnace on the second floor so I was just concerned if there was any kind of leak up there if I would smell it".

     Her investigation of the CSST used, led her to several stories linking it to fires caused by lightning strikes. Wright says "the article I found was actually in Carmel, a suburb of Indianapolis and it's not a terribly large city. They said they've had 6 fires in the last 2 years".

     That's led to a lawsuit against several tubing manufacturers -- and a settlement was approved just last month. It calls for manufacturers to pay for proper grounding of the CSST because lightning can cause a hole in this yellow tubing, allowing gas to be released and ignited.

     Wright doesn't think her tubing has been grounded. I asked about the other houses in the neighborhood and she said " I would say most of the houses in my neighborhood have this in there, at least running to their gas fireplaces."

     Wright says because no one can definitely tell her wether her pipe was hooked up correctly, she believes Duke Energy should take the lead and do an inspection before allowing gas to be hooked up to a house. Wright says "I think people need to know about it and I think at the very least Duke, who's providing the gas service, needs to make people aware of this".
 
     Wright and I both contacted Duke Energy about this. Company officials found the manufacturers require gas piping to be bonded to a grounding system through use of a bonding clamp and wire. As a result, Duke will now include a check for such grounding during its new home inspections.

     If you have such yellow gas tubing in your house, you should check to make sure its properly grounded. A class action settlement with manufacturers will help pay some of the cost of that grounding.