Columbia Parent: Gas Restoration On Schedule To Meet Deadline

LAWRENCE, MA -- Columbia Gas of Massachusetts has replace five of the 45 miles of underground gas lines it needs to upgrade to restore service to all of its customers in Andover, North Andover and Lawrence, and officials said Tuesday they are confident they will meet a November 19 deadline. The company is using close to 200 construction crews in its effort to restore service to the 8,600 customers in the three communities still without gas service.

At a press briefing Tuesday, Commodore Builders Chief Executive Joe Albanese described the November 19 deadline as a "worst-case scenario" if the crews hit unexpected obstacles, including inclement weather and more, previously undiscovered problems that needed to be repaired. In addition to the 45 miles of transmission lines, crews need to replace 6,100 service lines and conduct individual inspections to deem individual connections to homes and businesses as "gas ready."

All told, the unprecedented effort will see 63 indvidual construction projects spread across eight zones in the three communities. "We know how much we have to do, and we have a lot of crews in a small footprint," said Albanese, who was hired by Columbia Gas as part of an order from Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker.

By the end of the week, officials hope to post an online, interactive map so residents and business owners can better assess when their gas service will be restored, said Pablo Vegas, executive vice president of Columbia Gas parent company NiSource. It's difficult for people to make "decisions prior to having that information," he said.

"We are hellbent on assuring people have heat and hot water by the 19th," Albanese said.

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Patch file photo.

Dave Copeland can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).