City leaders took another step Wednesday to address inspection issues that have emerged following a medical gas accident that left a Tonganoxie youth seriously injured.

But some members of the area’s plumbing industry said the city is still not doing enough to ensure plumbing codes protect the public’s safety.

“They’re taking a step to fix a problem, but they’re not fixing the industry,” said Kirk Miller, a business representative for the area Plumber and Pipe Fitters union. “You still have a weak code, and now you’re just waiting for the next accident to happen in another part of the code.”

The city’s Plumbers and Pipe Fitters Board — the City Commission-appointed board responsible for overseeing the city’s plumbing code — unanimously recommended on Wednesday that the city adopt a new ordinance that would require the city’s inspections department to ensure that outside, third-party inspections have been done on any medical gas line installations in the city.

The new regulations come after Tonganoxie High School senior Austin Stone was left seriously injured after a March 30 medical gas accident at the surgery center of Dr. S. Kirk Vincent at 4811 Bob Billings Parkway.

Vincent said the medical gas lines — unbeknownst to him — were incorrectly installed in the newly constructed building. When Stone began receiving gas as part of a procedure to have his wisdom teeth removed, he stopped breathing and had to be rushed to Lawrence Memorial Hospital.

City code requires that an independent, third-party company conduct an inspection of the medical gas system. But the city contends the code does not require the city to take any action to verify the third-party inspection actually occurred.

The new ordinance reviewed by the Plumbing Board on Wednesday would change that. The ordinance, which still must receive final approval from the City Commission, would require the city’s inspections department to receive a copy of the inspection report before the city issues a certificate of occupancy for the building.

“I think every city should look at having an ordinance like this,” said Doug Dillon, chairman of the Plumbers and Pipe Fitters Board.

Plumbing code debate

But at least one board member also thought the city should review its entire plumbing code. Roy Chaney, a board member and an owner of Chaney Plumbing, said he thought the city should reopen the debate on whether the current International Plumbing Code is adequate.

In 2007, the city switched its plumbing code from the Uniform Plumbing Code to the International Plumbing Code. The switch was made by the City Commission despite formal opposition from the city’s Board of Plumbers and Pipe Fitters. The plumbing board recommended against adopting the International code because members said the International code was often too vague and open to interpretation.

But on Wednesday, a motion by Chaney to reopen the subject failed to win approval.

City staff members also said they believed the International Plumbing Code provided the proper levels of protection.

“We don’t want to turn this into a new debate over the international versus the uniform code,” said Scott McCullough, the city’s director of planning and development services.

Instead, the city wants to focus on ways to better ensure that contractors meet their obligations to fully comply with the code. McCullough said his office is studying whether the city needs to change its practices in regard to how it documents other third-party inspections that aren’t related to medical gas installations.

City commissioners are expected to consider the new medical gas ordinance next month.

According to a Web site that the family uses to update Stone’s condition, he has been moved to a rehabilitation facility and is making progress with tasks such as chewing and swallowing ice and other soft foods.