State Bars Columbia Gas From Doing Any More Work

BOSTON, MA -- The Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities placed a moratorium on Columbia Gas of Massachusetts, which prohibits the company from performing any work in the state through at least December 1. The ban, which came as a result of a preliminary National Safety Board report released Thursday, does not apply to compliance and emergency work, including the restoration of service in Andover, North Andover and Lawrence.

The state regulator said it was also in the process of hiring an independent evaluator "out of an abundance of caution" to assess the state's pipeline system.

The NTSB reports placed blame for last month's gas explosions that killed one and damaged or destroyed 131 buildings in the Merrimack Valley on the utility, which is a unit of NiSource. The report showed that Columbia Gas signed off on a work order that allowed for pressure to increase in transmission lines, which set off a series of explosions and forced the evacuation of thousands from the three communities.

As part of an Order recently issued by the Department of Public Utilities, National Grid is required to provide the Department with information regarding staffing, costs, and the services that National Grid has provided during the company’s current labor lockout compared to the same period in previous years. The regulatory agency is also conducting its own investigation into the gas explosions.

Read the full NTSB preliminary report. Never miss another local news story: Get free local news alerts right to your inbox.

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).