The couplings holding together Atmos' natural gas utilities piping were found to be of an older model, and are still underground all over Texas. One of these older couplings allowed gas to leak into a home last May and caused an explosion, killing two and injuring three. Atmos is currently part of a trial assessing whose responsibility the explosion was, and this new link places some of the blame on the company, despite the fact that they were the result of the operations of a company that Atmos did not acquire until recently. Shares fell at fears that the company would have to pony up in civil litigation.
