One week after a deadly natural gas explosion rocked Rancho Cordova, a federal accident investigator is still waiting for Pacific Gas and Electric Co. to provide records that will help determine whether the utility responded adequately to complaints of leaking gas.

"I've asked for it. I haven't seen it yet. But I will get it," said Karl Gunther, the National Transportation Safety Board official leading the investigation of the Christmas Eve blast that blew apart a Paiute Way home, killing Wilbert Paana, 72, and critically injuring his daughter and granddaughter.

What's needed are PG&E's emergency response plan and other government-required protocols for handling reports of natural gas leaks and other public hazards, Gunther said. One of the safety board's duties is to determine whether the utility followed those rules.

The key question is whether the utility should have had the neighborhood evacuated after residents complained of a strong gas odor. An attorney for the family of the victims said the area has long had a problem with gas leaks, and that the utility was notified of a strong odor of gas about 13 hours before the explosion. PG&E says it received its first complaint about 4 1/2 hours before the blast.

Gunther said he hopes to get some answers from PG&E today in interviews scheduled with the utility workers who were dispatched to Paiute Way to check for leaks and with two Rancho Cordova fire captains who arrived after the explosion.

For the past week, PG&E officials have told The Bee that its emergency response plan has not been available for release.

"It's a matter of me finding out where to get it, and getting it to the right people, and having them get it to you as quickly as I can," PG&E spokesman David Eisenhauer said in the company's latest response Tuesday.

PG&E was no more forthcoming at a community forum Tuesday night. "I'm just not at liberty to share anything," Bill Hayes, the company's vice president of energy delivery, told an audience of about 100 at Rancho Cordova City Hall.

State utility regulators and city fire and police officials also were on hand. But residents directed most of their questions to Hayes.

Why weren't they evacuated? How did the leak occur? Why wasn't it found sooner?

"I know for a fact that Bill (Wilbert Paana) called for three years," said Patrick Grant, referring to complaints of gas odors from his neighbor who died in the blast. Grant said his ears still ring from the explosion.

Hayes said PG&E could not release information until the company and government officials concluded the accident investigation. "I know it's frustrating not to have answers," he said

The California Public Utilities Commission also has not released PG&E's emergency response procedures, which it audits for compliance with federal law.

The commission cannot release the plan without an official request, said Raffy Stepanian, program manager for the agency's utilities, safety and reliability branch. On Tuesday, The Bee filed a formal public records request for that information.

Previously, neighbors told The Bee that residents on Paiute Way had been calling PG&E after 12:30 a.m. Dec. 24 complaining of a strong scent of gas in their homes and outside. Utility crews were on the street checking for leaks at the time of the explosion, about 1:40 p.m.

Gunther said at a news conference Monday that the homes should have been evacuated. He said investigators have determined that the leak came from a coupling in the gas delivery pipe running under the victim's front yard, but they do not know what caused the leak, how the gas entered the home or what sparked the blast.

"It would probably have to be either through the water line or the sewer line," Gunther said Tuesday of the likely entry route. "I can't think of another way."

The leak occurred precisely where PG&E repair crews had found seepage about 18 months ago. Investigators are looking at whether the repair job was done correctly and whether the replacement pipe and coupling were sound, Gunther said.

Among the potential scenarios Gunther is checking out is whether the crews properly compacted the fill dirt after making the repairs. Loose fill can shift as it settles and cause pipe failures.

In October 2006, a home in Wylie, Texas, exploded, killing two, when a coupling failed under the strain of shifting soil, according to an investigative report by Dallas television station WFAA.

Stress from settling soil also was blamed for a December 2005 explosion at a Spokane, Wash., auto repair shop. Pipeline failure experts hired by the utility said the settlement occurred after its crews replaced sections of gas pipes. The new fill dirt underneath the gas pipe had not been sufficiently compacted.

Also Tuesday, Robert Buccola, the attorney also representing Paana's survivors – Kim Dickson, 44, and her daughter Sunny Dickson, 17 – lashed out at PG&E over what he described as a history of gas leaks in the neighborhood.

"It's incredible a concerted action was not put into place to find the location of the leak," Buccola said.

The family hasn't spoken publicly since the explosion.

"They're really struggling," said Buccola. "There's more than subtle anger against PG&E."

PG&E workers have checked the area repeatedly since the explosion looking for other leaks, utility spokesman Jeff Smith said. While the gas company has paid for several scared residents to stay in a hotel, the neighborhood is safe, he said.

"We're absolutely confident the neighborhood is now safe, but we absolutely understand their concerns," Smith said.

PG&E has shut off gas service to three properties – including the home that blew up and the homes on either side.

Call The Bee's Chris Bowman, (916) 321-1069. The Bee's Carrie Peyton-Dahlberg contributed to this report.