New York state officials are ordering National Grid to defend why an explosion happened in Little Falls last winter as it weighs leveling penalties against the natural gas provider.

Three people were injured and several homes were damaged on West Main Street in Little Falls last February.

According to the state, the explosion happened because a buried gas line came free from the curb shut-off valve. Gas then leaked into the basement of a home, because the foundation was never sealed off.

National Grid is facing three alleged violations, and were given 45 days to respond.

The company provided a response to Spectrum News: "National Grid is committed to providing safe, reliable gas service to our customers. We fully cooperated with the resulting investigations after this incident and complied with all requests for information by the entities involved in reviewing the matter, including the New York PSC. While we do not agree with all of the findings and conclusions contained in the Commission’s investigation report, we take the show cause order very seriously and will respond to the Commission within the timeframe required by the order. As always, we continue to perform regular inspections and maintenance of our gas system and adhere to all state and federal safety standards.