Columbia Gas Executive: 'We Have Let You Down'

NORTH ANDOVER, MA -- Top ranking Columbia Gas of Massachusetts executives -- including its president and the chief executive of its parent company -- told more than 100 people at the North Andover Senior Center that the company was "devastated" by last month's gas explosions that killed one man and damaged or destroyed more than 130 buildings in Lawrence, Andover and North Andover. But for most of the residents at Saturday's meeting, many of whom have been without heat and hot water since the Sept. 13 gas explosions in the Merrimack Valley, the apologies did not go far enough.

"Each if us at Columbia Gas and NiSource have been heartbroken by what happened here and devastated by the effect it had on your lives," said Joe Hamrock, chief executive of Columbia Gas parent-company NiSource Inc. "I understand that many of you are justifiably frustrated and skeptical, but I want to stress again how sorry we are for the stress this has caused and reassure you that we're committed to earning back your trust and confidence through our actions in the weeks and months ahead."

Chief Restoration Officer Pablo Vegas said the company would begin sending each affected resident a weekly progress report with new estimates of when they can expect service to be restored. The company also will restore an online, interactive map that was taken off-line last week on Monday, Vegas said.

Related Story: How Much Do Columbia Gas Executives Make?

On Friday, Columbia gas said it was going to miss a Nov. 19 deadline to complete the recovery effort, and that some restoration work could extend into next year. The company has blamed the delay on the complexities of restoring service to individual homes, many of which need to be brought up to code.

For most residents, the session was a chance to vent their frustrations. But others were worried about who would bear the cost of winterizing homes now that complete restoration is unlikely to occur before sustained, below-freezing temperatures. Others wanted to know why the company had waited until Friday to admit what most had long suspected: that the Nov. 19 deadline was not feasible.

"We have let you down, and for that I apologize," Vegas said. "I know that our communications have fallen behind on many fronts and I commit that we're going to do better on that going forward."

As of Friday afternoon, Columbia Gas had restored gas service to 900 buildings, leaving more than 6,400 homes and businesses in the three communities without gas service.

"Frankly, we under-estimated the time it would take to mitigate these issues," said Chief Recovery Officer Joe Albanese, who was appointed by Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker in September. "The question you surely have is 'When will my service be restored?' Well, we won't be able to answer that question on an individual basis today, but we can let you know we're focused on having that data and will reach out individually to each customer we think is going to fall beyond that November 19 date."

While the executives extended their talk by more than 15 minutes past the scheduled end time, there were more than a dozen people waiting in line who were left without a chance to ask questions or make comments. The executive were scheduled to appear at similar open houses at Lawrence High School at 1 pm and at the Doherty Middle School at 50 Bartlet Street in Andover at 3 pm.

Watch the comments from the executives and the Q&A portion of Saturday morning's meeting in North Andover below:

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Top photo from left to right: Columbia Gas of Massachusetts President Steve Bryant, NiSource Chief Executive Joe Hamrock, Chief Recovery Officer Joe Albanese and Chief Restoration Officer Pablo Vegas at a meeting with North Andover residents on Saturday. Photo and video 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).