Suit: Chocolate maker ignored natural gas alert before blast

A Pennsylvania candy-maker ignored warnings of a natural gas leak at its chocolate factory and bears responsibility for a subsequent explosion that killed seven workers and injured several others, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday. Workers smelled natural gas that day and notified Palmer, but the 75-year-old, family-owned company “did nothing,” the lawsuit said. “Tragically, Judith Lopez-Moran’s death and suffering were preventable.” The lawsuit, filed in Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, also names gas utility UGI, which declined comment. Palmer officials should have evacuated immediately after being told of the natural gas odor but instead “made a representation to the factory workers, including Judith Lopez-Moran, that the factory was safe and that there was no gas leak,” the suit said.