Business & Tech
Hearing Date Set For Lawsuits Against Columbia Gas
A judge will hold a hearing to coordinate the multiple lawsuits filed against the company as a result of the Sept. 13 gas explosions.
SALEM, MA -- Salem Superior Court Judge James F. Lang scheduled a hearing for December 19 at 2 pm to coordinate the lawsuits pending against Columbia Gas of Massachusetts. At least three lawsuits have been filed or are in the process of being filed against the company and its parent, NiSource Inc., for the role it played in the Sept. 13 gas explosions.
NiSource and Columbia Gas are also under federal criminal indictment and the subject of ongoing state and federal investigations into the gas explosions, which killed one man and injured more than 20 others. The explosions in Lawrence, Andover and North Andover damaged or destroyed more than 100 buildings and thousands of people in the three communities still do not have heat or hot water.
The family of Leonel Rondon has said it will file a wrongful death lawsuit against Columbia Gas. Rondon, the lone fatality in the gas explosions, had just received his driver's license and was parked in the driveway of his family's Lawrence home when the house was flattened by an explosion and a chimney collapsed onto the SUV. A passenger in the car suffered severe injuries, while two other passengers escaped unscathed.
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A Boston law firm is filing a class action lawsuit claiming Columbia Gas knew of 150 leaks in its transmission system and $27 million it needed to make in infrastructure improvements last October -- nearly a year before explosions.
The family of Kenneth DeVeau of North Andover plans to file a lawsuit against Columbia Gas and NiSource that claims the company's negligence in the gas explosions led to DeVeau's death from complications following a heart attack.
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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).
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