First Oversight Hearings For Merrimack Valley Gas Explosions Set

BOSTON, MA -- State Senators will hold a series of hearings beginning December 4 in response to the Sept. 13 Merrimack Valley gas explosions which killed one, damaged or destroyed 131 buildings and left thousands of people looking at weeks or even months without gas or hot water. The first hearing, on December 4 in Boston, will look at the natural gas industry and infrastructure in Massachusetts. A second hearing of December 17 will be held at an as yet to be determined location in the Merrimack Valley and focus on the disaster and its impact on Andover, North Andover and Lawrence.

"As we approach the cold winter months, we need answers to the questions residents are asking, including wanting to understand precisely what happened in the Merrimack Valley; is our current state oversight appropriate; and how workforce issues are impacting the industry, among other things," Senate President Karen Spilka, D-Ashland, said in a statement.

Columbia Gas of Massachusetts and its parent company, NiSource Inc., are already facing a federal criminal investigation and a probe by the National Transportation Safety Board. The company has also been targeted in a class action lawsuit and two wrongful death lawsuits. US Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey of Massachusetts are also calling for a Congressional review of the disaster.

Massachusetts has also barred Columbia Gas from performing any work, other than emergency or compliance work, in the state through at least December 1. A preliminary NTSB report suggests the explosions were caused by over-pressurization in a gas main and that they were preventable.

It's not clear if the hearings will address the utility's response to the disaster. Columbia Gas has already said it will miss a November 19 deadline to restore service to all of its customers in the Merrimack Valley, and that restoration work could extend into 2019.

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Top: The house on Chickering Road in Lawrence where 18-year-old Leonel Rondon was killed on Sept. 13. Rondon was sitting in the car parked in the driveway when a gas explosion destroyed the house and toppled the chimney onto the car. Photo by Dave Copeland/Patch.

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